Administrators happened to stumble upon this find while trying to turn an old storage room into office space. While they were at it, they found a trap door. Underneath were dark narrow stairs.

“I came down to look and it's like a treasure,” said Superintendent Karla Eslinger.

The treasures are pieces of West Plains High history: hundreds of trophies.

“I didn't really realize we were as accomplished I guess,” said Eslinger. “We have tradition in all kinds of things from thespian societies to basketball, even golf.”

The trophies date back to the 1920s.

“This looks like a 1955 West Plains Junior High first place. I just love the eagle and some of the detail they have on these older trophies,” she said.

Ideally administrators would like to dust off these treasures and display them in showcases separated by decades.

Administrators also unearthed school jerseys and pictures that really show the years.

Coincidently, this magnificent find couldn't be more timely. It's the 100th year of the Zizzer.

“Basically a Zizzer is a winner,” said Eslinger.

It's also the school symbol, represented by a lightning bolt. The term was invented in 1908 but isn’t in a dictionary.

“When the teacher saw the work the students accomplished, she said, ‘Now that's a Zizzer!’” the superintendent said.

“The timeliness of everything, with getting the stage clear, happening to find the trap door, happening to turn on the light one day, really fell in place nicely for us.”

Opening the door to West Plains’ past closes the door on missing links of its history. Administrators plan to display the trophies for all to see and hope to have it ready by homecoming weekend. However, they do encourage suggestions on how to do that.