Eric grew up in southern Illinois.  He attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale earning a bachelor of science degree in Speech Communication and minors in Theater and English.  His decision to teach high school theater was sidetracked a bit when he encountered the world of competitive speech while student teaching. His love of theater never left him, and he spent several summers performing in summer stock in his twenties but his love of performing and interest in public speaking led him to a 34-year career as a public speaking teacher and coach. He coached successful teams at three Illinois high schools with his longest tenure being twenty two years at Pekin Community High School in central Illinois.  Over the years,  his teams have won many tournaments statewide, and he has had numerous state and national qualifiers, state finalists and champions, and national qualifiers and finalists. During his tenure at Pekin, he advanced students to the national speech tournament each of the 22 years of his working there.  He also received his master’s degree in Educational Leadership from St. Xavier University in Chicago during this time.  Mr. Ewan has received several outstanding educator awards including the National Speech and Debate Association’s district coach of the year, the Illinois Communication Association Teacher of the Year, and the ICTA’s highest honor, the Sanford Award for significant contributions to its organization and speech and theater in the Illinois. He was also awarded the Outstanding Contributor award at Pekin High School and most recently, last fall, the Gretchen Iben Founder’s award from Corn Stock Theater in Peoria, Illinois for over twenty years as an actor, director, designer and board member.     Eric retired from Education in 2016 and since then he has traveled, continued his work in theater, started a successful crafting business, and returned to work part time utilizing his communication skills as a receptionist.  A future goal is to find more opportunities as a guest speaker for educational and organizational programs. If asked, he would say his greatest accomplishment is having taught  hundreds of speech and theater students who continue to impress him every year with what they have achieved and their acknowledgment of his contribution to the foundation for that success has been his his greatest reward.