For more than a decade, Jeff Maeder served a combination of the Winfield-Mt. Union and Columbus Community School Districts. Following a brief stop at the Grand Prairie Area Education Agency, Maeder returns to Pekin, his alma mater, to serve as the interim superintendent.

While he was named the Pekin Community School District Superintendent in May, Maeder officially starts on July 1. The change for the District came after former Superintendent Derek Philips resigned in March.

Maeder graduated from Pekin in 1984 before earning his bachelor’s degree in elementary education as well as his master’s in education administration from William Penn. He will serve Pekin for the 2024-25 academic year.