Biography

   Born and raised in Newark, Illinois, Roger Eddy is one of five children. His Father, Harold was a factory worker at Caterpillar in nearby Montgomery, Illinois for nearly 30 years. His Mother, Marge was a homemaker and volunteer for the Salvation Army. Newark is located in Kendall County- home of current Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dennis Hastert. Roger attended public schools in Newark from 1st through 12th grade. After high school, he attended Joliet Junior College prior to transferring to Northern Illinois University in De Kalb. It was at Northern that he earned a Bachelors Degree in Education.

   Also while at Northern, he was employed for the first time as a coach. While still a full-time student at NIU, he was hired as the Head Baseball Coach at Highland Community College in Freeport, Illinois. His passion for teaching and coaching was as evident then as his passion for public education and service is today.

   After two years as head baseball coach at Highland and upon receiving his Bachelor's Degree, Roger married his high school sweetheart, Rebecca and they moved together to Crawford County and he began his career in public education as a teacher and coach at Hutsonville. He taught American History and Physical Education there for seven years before being promoted to become Principal at Hutsonville High School. After three years as Principal at Hutsonville High School, Roger accepted a position as Principal at Watseka High School in Watseka, Illinois. After five years at Watseka High School he was offered the opportunity to return to Crawford County as Superintendent of Schools, once again, at Hutsonville CUSD # 1. He has been Superintendent at Hutsonville for the past nine years. During his time as teacher, coach and administrator, he returned to school and earned advanced degrees form Eastern Illinois University. He earned a Masters Degree in Educational Administration in 1986 and a Specialist Degree in Adminitration in 1996. He also works as an adjunct professor at Eastern Illinois University and teaches in the Educational Administration Department.

   In addition to his work in Education, he has served on numerous educational and economic development boards: United Way of Wabash Valley Executive Board Member, Illinois Association of School Administrators Legislative Committee Member- Wabash Valley Division, Governor’s Safe School Task Force- Jim Ryan, Chairperson; Eastern Illinois University Department of Educational Administration Advisory Committee, Eastern Illinois University PT3 Technology Committee, Member of Marathon/Ashland Oil Company Community Advisory Committee, Past Member of Crawford County Economic Development Committee, Senior Reviewer for Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) Quality Assurance External Visits, ISBE Technology Blueprint Peer Review Reader, ISBE Standards Implementation Committee Member, ISBE ISAT/PSAE Steering Committee Member, Chairman of LEAP 2 Technology Showcase Committee, Area 6 Technology Hub Committee Member, Crawford County E-Commerce Incubator Advisory Board, and a sub-committee member of the Education Funding Adv
isory Board.

   Roger and his wife, Rebecca, reside in rural Hutsonville with their five children. His children range in age from 23 to 11 years old. His wife Rebecca is an Early Childhood Teacher. They have spent 19 of the last 24 years raising their family in Hutsonville. His parents still reside in Newark, Illinois along with his brother and three sisters.

   He was first elected to the General Assembly as State Representative of the newly drawn 109th District in 2002 and was re-elected in 2004. He begins his second term in January of 2004. During the 93rd General Assembly, he served on the following House Committees: Labor, Higher Education, Higher Education Appropriations, Elementary and Secondary Education, and Elementary and Secondary Education Appropriations.