Cody Butler has stepped into the role of athletic director at Kewanee High School, a job that presents plenty of challenges.
But Butler said he has the advantage of having worked with Tim Atwell, the longtime athletic director who retired at the end of the 2025-26 school year.
Butler said he “worked pretty closely (with Atwell) over the past few years,” especially since he was hired as Atwell’s successor last fall.
“Kewanee has a great athletic tradition over the years,” Butler said. He had been a part of that tradition himself, playing football, basketball and baseball at KHS, where he graduated in 1996.
Butler said Kewanee High athletes benefit from great facilities — a football stadium with artificial turf and a new field house, a main gym that features a new video scoreboard and, across Third Street from the school, a new fitness area and tennis courts.
Good’s Gym and a new weight room are also available.
After high school, Butler graduated from the University of Illinois at Springfield. He started in the Kewanee school system in 2004, teaching fourth and eighth grades as well as high school history before being named the high school’s dean of students four years ago.
Butler’s duties as athletic director include scheduling games and practices, and looking for ways to maintain and improve athletic facilities to make them even better.
