Butler Catholic School teachers Jennifer Friel, left, and Elizabeth Baptiste hold a diploma dated 1920 in front of the "visual time piece" they created with artifacts they found in storage on Friday, Nov. 18, 2022. Eric Freehling/Butler Eagle

New work at Butler Catholic School, 515 E. Locus St., uncovered the school’s past.

Two teachers decided to showcase the artifacts from the school’s long history for present-day students to observe and study.

Fifth-grade teacher Jennifer Friel and fourth-grade teacher Elizabeth Baptiste said renovation work being done at the school over the summer unearthed items from a closet.

“They were laid out on a table, and the teachers were asked if there was anything creative we could do with this,” said Friel. She and Baptiste went through archives in a space above the school library that used to house a convent and unearthed a trove of historical items dating back to before the merger that created Butler Catholic School 55 years ago.

They said a display case on the second floor near Baptiste’s classroom was empty after its trophies and art displays were moved to other locations. They filled the case with uniforms from St. Paul’s school (BCS’s predecessor), scrapbooks containing newspaper clippings about the school, a film projector donated to the school by the 1977 parent teacher group, tape recorders, pennants and other memorabilia.

“I remember the film projector from when I was a student here,” said Friel.

The two teachers said the display is more of a time piece than a time capsule, because it’s meant to be seen and not buried.

“It’s a rich history that the kids here have never seen before,”said Baptiste.

The two said St. Paul School merged with St. Michael to form Butler Catholic School 55 years ago. The St. Michael school building till exists, but the St. Paul building was pulled down.

“We’re the oldest merged school in the diocese,” said Baptiste.

Friel and Baptiste selected the items on display right now. “Some of it is so fragile, we can’t have everybody touch it,” said Friel.

There are still many more items in the school’s archives, and they may replace the present exhibit with a whole new display after Christmas.

The renovation work on the second floor of the school’s Fatima wing, which included lowering the ceiling and adding a new roof, prompted the two to begin their history project.

“The wing is so new, we didn’t want to forget where the school came from,” Baptiste said.