St. Peter Lutheran School to open time capsule
By Angie Landsverk
St. Peter Lutheran School is celebrating its 125th anniversary this school year.
A guest preacher, opening of a time capsule buried 25 years ago and potluck are planned for Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 2-3.
Rev. Isaac Crass is the guest preacher that weekend.
He is a former St. Peter student who currently serves Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church in Columbia, Tennessee.
The time capsule is being opened between the 8 a.m and 10:30 a.m. services on Sunday, Nov. 3.
It is expected to take place around 9:15 a.m.
All the students from the 1993-94 school year are invited back to St. Peter’s for the time capsule’s opening.
“We will take the items out at that time,” said Jeff Miller.
He teaches seventh and eighth grades at the school and is the principal as well.
Miller was also teaching at the school when the time capsule was buried.
“Each classroom at that time put items in that it wanted,” he said.
Miller said, “A promise was made when it was buried that it would not be opened until those who buried it could be present to see it.”
Those who attend the Nov. 3 event are invited to a potluck in the school’s commons, following the 10:30 a.m. service.
They may also check out a display of the school’s history.
Search for the capsule
The time capsule had to be dug up a few years ago when the new school was built.
It was then buried in a new location on the school grounds.
On Sept. 16, the school’s present student body searched for that spot.
Students from various grades were mixed into groups and paired with a teacher or staff member for the activity.
They were given nine clues to find where it was buried.
“We will be doing a variety of activities throughout the year so the older and younger students interact with each other,” Miller said.
The school’s Sea Eagles Team, headed by Timothy Thies, was the first to find where the time capsule was buried.
Students took turns digging, and reached the top of the capsule before school was dismissed that day.
Miller finished the task.
“We just wanted to get them involved,” he said of incorporating the current students into the activity.
School history
“The school has always been on this site,” Miller said.
St. Peter’s congregation began in 1872, and the school had its first teacher in 1894.
It was a one-teacher school until 1925, when a second teacher was added.
Today, the school has eight teachers and two aides.
This school year, 92 students are enrolled in 3K through eighth grade.
The majority are members of the congregation.
A few are members of the sister congregation, Immanuel Lutheran Church in Waupaca, while others are not from either church.
St. Peter’s Church served as the school’s site until 1900, when a school building was dedicated.
A new structure was built by 1941, with additions in 1955 and 1962.
The current school was dedicated in 2014.
Miller said another time capsule was placed in one of the school’s walls when it was built.