Butler Elementary project chosen to celebrate Indiana's bicentennial
04/27/2016

 

Butler Elementary’s Littler Hoosiers Club, a fourth-grade after-school group, meets several times a month to learn about Indiana’s history. The club is led by three ISTA members, Darlene Diehl, Glenna Weaver and Heather Mohler.

 

The club chose to research the Thompson Opera House in the city of Bulter located in Dekalb County as part of their Heritage Trail project. Their research project is displayed in the Butler Public Library and has been designated as an Indiana Bicentennial Legacy Project in conjunction with the celebrations.

 

“Not bad for a group of 25 active fourth graders,” said Diehl.

 

This is an ideal year to learn more about Indiana as the bicentennial celebrations bring more awareness to Indiana’s past. The Butler Elementary students partnered with Dekalb County historian John Bry to learn more about the historic opera house and to design and fund a plaque to be placed on the building.

 

“The building was constructed around 1903 for hardware store owner Walter Thompson and his wife Electra, and established the opera house on the upper level,” explained Bry in a Facebook post highlighting the student’s visit to the building. “The building is the last surviving opera house structure in Dekalb County, and today has been refurbished and adapted beautifully to serve as community space and the city offices of Butler.”

 

Diehl and her colleagues hope to continue the Heritage Trail project annually. “We will choose a person or place in our school district to research every year,” said Diehl.