BUTLER, Ohio — Butler Elementary School is turning 100 this year. To celebrate, the school is hosting the first annual Butler Lawn Festival on Friday, May 22 from 5-9 p.m.
People can enjoy an evening of games, cake walks, raffle and silent auction items, pony rides and bouncy houses. Dinner and homemade desserts will be served throughout the evening.
Elementary students will give tours of the school from 4-6 p.m., sharing nteresting facts about the school’s history.
Some of the students have practiced giving tours in advance of the celebration, including fourth grader Corbin Wynkoop.
Recently, Wynkoop gave a tour of the building and discussed unique features the school once held.
He said the school had a bell that students could ring to mark lunchtime, while pointing to where the bell once hung.
He shared how the rooms have changed over the years and what’s stayed the same. His favorite part of the tour, he said, is visiting the maintenance room and seeing what is believed to be the original coal furnace that was used in the past.
Third grade teacher Nancy Fox helped him learn the history of the school. “In three tours [led by Fox] I learned all of it,” he said.
Having students learn the history of the school is exciting, Fox said, “Because the school has so much history to it.” She’s hoping attendees of the festival will take tours led by the students and be willing to share any information they have about the school. “We want to help keep the history alive,” she said.
Matt Caputo, Butler Elementary School principal, is also excited about the students’ interest in the history of the school, noting, “I love the fact that the kids own their school. They are invested in it.”
He’s anticipatory of the festival and said that the planning and organization of it has been a group-effort.
“It’s been a great cooperation among the schools, community, village office, Chief [Brian] Darby, Mayor Kevin Carr…I can’t say enough good things about our parents club, he said.
“This is typical of our Butler community,” he said of their support.
In regard to the 100-year commemoration, he commented, “This is a Blue Ribbon School for academic excellence. We came across some pictures, and Butler Elementary was called a Blue Ribbon School way back when, which is very ironic…So we’re celebrating 100 years of excellence.”
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