Dewitt was born in Des Moines, Iowa and moved to Northbrook, Illinois (a northern suburb of Chicago) when he was five.  After graduating from Glenbrook North High School, he attended Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa graduating with a Bachelor in Music Education degree.  He also met and married his wife Joanna while at Simpson College.

 

Dewitt and Joanna then went to rural Iowa for their first teaching jobs and Dewitt enrolled at Drake University to work on a Masters in Educational Administration degree.  His first administrative position after receiving his Masters degree was a middle school principalship.  Dewitt then continued his advanced studies at Drake University receiving both his specialist degree and his doctorate degree in Educational Administration.  As a sideline, Dewitt played with a rock-and-roll show band touring the Midwest.  The band, made up of teachers and former students, gained wide recognition. 

 

The Des Moines, Iowa area was home for Joanna and Dewitt for thirty years as Dewitt was a high school principal in two different districts and also a superintendent of schools.  After their two sons (Justin & Jeremy) graduated from college, Dewitt accepted a superintendent’s position in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin for four years and then moved back to Iowa where he is the current superintendent of the Waterloo Community Schools, Waterloo, Iowa.  

 

Dewitt has been recognized as a leader in education and has won many awards in both Iowa and Wisconsin. These include:  2004 Iowa Communicator of the Year, 2001 Wisconsin State Distinguished Administrator Music Educators Service Award, 1999 Iowa High School State Speech Association Hall of Fame Inductee, 1996 School Administrators of Iowa / Iowa Arts Alliance Administrator of the Year, 1994 Norwalk Community Schools - Iowa Exemplary Music Program.