digging up the past
Naomi Pasemann Elementary recovers time capsule
After 25 years, a Taylor Independent School District time capsule is still green.
The district’s maintenance operations staff, along with Condra Funeral Home workers, unearthed a vault of memories buried at Naomi Pasemann Elementary School in 1999 Tuesday, April 30.
According to Tim Crow, who was the principal when the vault was buried, the funeral home donated a burial vault to NPE to be used as a time capsule to commemorate the opening of Taylor’s newest campus.
“Now, 25 years later, it’s time for those first, second and third graders to return as 30 plus year-olds to view what they put in the vault all those years ago,” Crow said.
Pasemann Elementary will host a 25th Anniversary celebration where former students and staff will be able to view the contents of the time capsule and take their items Thursday, May 9, from 6 to 8 p.m.
A Taylor ISD Facebook post said the time capsule was exhumed early so that it could be ready for the anniversary celebration.
According to Principal Cynthia Proctor, the campus will open and allow families to walk around the hallways and classrooms.
Eventually, attendees will gather in the cafeteria for a presentation. After the slideshow, staff will pass out the recovered items in the gym to former students and teachers.
A wheeled excavator removed the dirt to reveal the time capsule that has been buried for a quarter century.
Lance Weidler, Taylor Independent School District’s director of support operations, examines the condition of the time capsule location.
“There was so much planning going into this because we wanted to make it special,” Proctor said. “We wanted to honor Naomi Pasemann, and I know she’s smiling down and having a great time. I know she would not have missed this for the world.”
Previous newspaper clippings said that students donated school mementos and wrote about “what they hope to be doing in 25 years.”
Taylor ISD said the empty time capsule will then be placed on display behind the cafeteria for anyone who would like to see it after school hours.
Beginning at 5 p.m. Tuesday, and until the program May 9, visitors may enter the staff parking lot from Mallard Lane and Smith Avenue.
Proctor said she hopes revisiting the past teaches the students that every day is a new day and that time flies.
“So, enjoy every moment of it,” Proctor said. “It’s not every day you get the opportunity to capture a moment of time and relive it years later, so this is really exciting.”
Picture of Principal Tim Crow speaking about the time capsule before it was buried in 1999. Photo courtesy of Taylor Independent School District
