Pamela Wallace is the organist at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Woodridge and gives piano lessons to about 40 students - children and adults - each week. She lives in Woodridge with her husband Bruce and two dogs, Angel and Jade. Q: What do you like about living in Woodridge? A: It’s nice and open. Most of the time, everything is pretty good. We do have problems with the electricity going off and on in this area (south of 87th Street, off of Woodward Ave.). We have brown-outs. It can be a nice day and it will go off. In fact, some people purchased house generators because of it. But it’s…

MaryAnn Sanfilipp will retire this summer after 13 years as principal of Willow Creek Elementary School. She's hasn't really thought of what she'll do in retirement, and she doesn't want to. "It's business as usual," Sanfilipp said. "It's not like I'm looking for the end. I really enjoy it here." Q: What changes have you seen during your time at Willow Creek? A: It's really awesome to see curriculum change over the years, to get down to really meeting the kids' needs. Before, it was a mile-wide and an inch-deep. Now the emphasis is to go deeper into the curriculum. The demographics are …

William Schmidt, assistant principal at Jefferson Junior High School for 2 1/2 years, will take over as principal in July when John McClenahan retires. Prior to being assistant principal, Schmidt taught social studies and Success Plus, a program for at-risk students at Jefferson. He is married and has three young children. Woodridge Patch: Was it always your goal to end up being principal of the school? William Schmidt: Yes, I think so. Originally, I got a finance degree in college and worked for a finance company for a couple of years. Once in corporate America, I realized that I wanted to …

Amanda Slusher has lived in Woodridge for six years and started her own bakery business called Amanda's Goodies about six months ago.  Q: What do you like about living in the village? A: Probably the shopping. It’s close to everything. Q: Do you have any favorite places you like to go? A: Of course Michael’s with all the Wilton stuff for my decorating. And Meijer, those are my two favorites.  And Suparossa, that’s the best. The Italian food is awesome. Q: What improvements would you like to see in the village? I think neighborhood-wise, I’d like it to feel safer than what it is. I’m at Janes …

Tom and Stacey Haskell have been married for 2 1/2 years and have lived in Woodridge since 2009.  Q: What brought you to Woodridge? Tom: We bought our first home together here.  There wasn’t anything in particular that attracted us to Woodridge.  I guess the fact that it’s literally in the middle of our universe.  It’s about a half hour drive to her parents to the south and my parents to the north and to our jobs – it’s just very centrally located. Q: What do you do for a living?  Tom: I work at an industrial supply company as a salesman. That’s over in Elmhurst. And Stacey is a customer …

Charlene Pontrelli is the owner of WineStyles at Seven Bridges. She and her husband opened the retail wine shop six years ago. They serve customers from Woodridge and the surrounding suburbs and Chicago. They live in Woodridge with their two sons. Q: How long have you lived in Woodridge and what brought you here?    A: My husband and I used to live in downtown Chicago. We’ve been here since ’99. We moved out here because we wanted to have a place where we could raise a family. Q: What do you like about living in the village?  A: You know what I like about it? I think that for the most part …

Brandon Evans is the golf professional at Village Greens of Woodridge golf course. He oversees the 18-hole public daily fee course, which is managed by the Woodridge Park District and owned by the Village of Woodridge.   He lives in Plainfield with his wife and son. Q: How long have you been the Fun and Entertainment Director at Village Greens? A: You mean my self-imposed title? (laughs)  This is my 14th season. I’ve been here 13 years. And I still haven’t had a bad day of work, which not a lot of people can say that. Before here I was at the St. Charles Country Club. I got the opportunity to…

Susan Van Veen is a Woodridge resident and executive director of Bridge to Success, a non-profit organization that provides workplace appropriate clothing for at-risk men, women and youth across the metropolitan Chicago area. She also teaches media management and fashion studies at Columbia College.  She is married with two grown children and two grandsons. Q: How long have you lived in Woodridge and how did you end up here? A: I moved to Woodridge in December of 1992. I moved here from Maryland because I had taken the position of executive director with a national not-for-profit organization…

Pat McCrimmon is the Tae Kwon Do instructor at the Woodridge Park District. He's taught three classes two days a week since 1989.  His students range in age from 6 to mid-50's. Q: How did you start teaching at the Park District? A: I was actually teaching in Aurora at Master Kim's (Black Belt Academy). I’d just recently moved to Downers Grove and was driving to Aurora. And I substituted for the instructor who was teaching at the Woodridge Park District a couple times and he said he wanted to go do something else. He couldn’t teach anymore, and he asked me if I wanted to take over the class. …

John McClenahan is the principal at Jefferson Junior. High School. He will retire this summer after serving as principal for two years and assistant principal for seven years. Woodridge Patch: Why do you like working with junior high students? John McClenahan: It's probably because it's the time to see the biggest change in their lives. I think junior high teachers can have the biggest impact on the students' maturity and their change from being little kids to young adult, high school kids. Patch: What are some accomplishments that you're proud of at Jefferson? McClenahan:  Kids who come back…