Sean C. Morgan
Sweet Home Junior High PE and health teacher Craig Wilson was a little worried last week about the contents of a time capsule discovered on the school grounds, during construction, that included something he wrote as an eighth-grader in 1993 to the people of 2093.
The capsule had been buried in the “island” area of the Junior High parking lot that year.
As preparations were made to open it Friday, March 15, Wilson made sure to let the students know that he was a pretty sarcastic kid way back then.
The class of 1997, which included Wilson, filled the time capsule with messages and items to 2093 – something discovered only after it was opened.
Wilson remembered burying the time capsule, a project started by retired art teacher Jeri Hurff.
The capsule was not marked and had become the topic of numerous rumors, said Vice Principal Terry Augustadt. People apparently knew there was a time capsule somewhere in the area and had a number of ideas where it might be buried.
“It’s this urban legend, myth thing going on,” Augustadt said in September after district maintenance staff dug the capsule up as they prepared for construction at the school. Students would say their parents remember helping bury it – never mind that the timing doesn’t really work.
Betty Kirk, head custodian, remembered that Hurff had mentioned the time capsule, said Principal Colleen Henry. She called Hurff, who was able to detail where the capsule was buried.
Language arts and history teachers Lana Holden and Sarah Lynn, who advise the history club, opened the capsule Friday. Assisting were seventh-graders David Steagall and Coen Robinson and eighth-grader Exavier Stratman.
They opened the capsule in the room that had been late history teacher Ken Roberts’ classroom at the time the capsule was planted, in June at the end of the school year.
At the top of the plastic tube was a canister with film coiled inside it. The canister was partially rusted away and the film was wet. Next came waterlogged packs of baseball, football, basketball, “Jurassic Park” and “Star Trek” trading cards – including a Michael Jordan trading card.
Then came a perfectly preserved vacuum-sealed book “The Outsiders,” which Lynn and the students recognized instantly. The school is still using the book in language arts classes.
Another vacuum-sealed pouch contained worksheets written by students about what they thought should be in a time capsule, along with a diagram of how they would personally build their own capsules.
Also inside was an old-fashioned – yes, it’s gotten that old – banner, produced by a dot matrix printer. On the banner were greetings from 1993 to 2093. The capsule was opened 74 years too soon!
Around the greetings were student comments. And among those, was incriminating evidence that Wilson, a teacher at the school today, was like other kids.
Current students were delighted and amused to read Wilson’s comment: “I hope school is more interesting than it is now. It is really boring. It kinda sucks.”
A very proud young Matt Melcher wrote: “Hello! I’m the greatest. Maybe you’ve heard of me.”
Another said, “Crystal Kean was here but now is dead!”
“J.D.” wrote: “Maybe there will be a nuclear explosion and wipe out school for everyone in the United States.”
“I’m sure you guys have very large bombs. Use them on the school, please,” wrote Chad
Cvitanich.
“By the year 2093, hopefully the U.S. will make education its #1 priority. I hope you find it so,” Hurff said.
Jason Becker said: “Well I don’t know what to say, but I hope that the world stays the same or better!”
“Howdy from the past. My name is Heather Heartt. Hope y’all’s still chillin’ people.”
“Have a fun time when you open it,” said Christina Gutierrez.
“Hello, 2093,” said Jennifer McKinnon. “I wonder what you people wear now. We wear jeans and T-shirts. Maybe I’ll live 100 years and find out. You never know. From 100 years in the past, Jennifer McKinnon.”
“Hey, I’m now about 114,” said Nathan Brewer. “I’m still alive. Hi, great grandchildren. Love, Nathan Brewer.”
“My name is Krysie Tack! Hi! I’m 14 years old!” said Krysie Tack.
Sprinkled among the comments were a few others letting the future know that the school sucked in 1993.
“It brings back memories,” Wilson told The New Era as he looked over the papers. “I was 14 at the time. I’m starting to remember some of my close friends in junior high.”
“The personal messages are just priceless,” Holden said. “These hand-written things by students are just incredible.”
Among the lessons the club learned opening the time capsule is that vacuum sealing is important. Nearly everything that was vacuum sealed survived. Nearly everything outside of it deteriorated, some of it to the point it was unrecognizable.
Also preserved in the capsule was an enrollment and staff list, again printed via dot matrix. Many of the students on the list are now parents of students attending SHJH now.
“I think the baseball cards were cool,” Steagall said. “And the pop cans and buttons.”
The capsule included buttons from the 1992 Clinton-Bush presidential election.
“It’s cool, especially the Jurassic Park,” Robinson said.
And Wilson’s comment, Steagall said, “I think that’s cool.”
Holden said she is interested in putting together a new time capsule, especially with the construction at the Junior High this year.