Twenty-five years ago, Castaic Middle School students filled up a box with different timely objects such as a Walkman, a cassette tape, a newspaper with the headline, “Clinton Impeached,” and various other popular objects of the time so people decades later could get a glimpse of what life was like then.
On Friday, in a special school assembly, current Castaic Middle School students and faculty got to see the many different objects that were placed in the time capsule and buried under a bench on school grounds in 1999.
It was a trip down memory lane for everyone in attendance and a special experience for eight former teachers who were a part of the school’s faculty dating back to the old school site.
Jeanette Edwards, a former teacher from 1996 to 2015, taught English, English as a second language, and foreign languages. She eagerly looked at the table of timely objects such as student I.D cards, a physical education T-shirt and an old textbook that she immediately recognized.
“It’s nostalgic. I started out in the old Castaic Middle School. I came to the new one when it was just ground, I came to the groundbreaking and … to just come here now … it’s still exactly the same,” Edwards said as she also greeted her previous colleagues after not seeing each other for a long time.
“This is a good small-knit community that has so much support,” said Castaic Union School District Superintendent Bob Brauneisen. “We have four of the five principals that have been at Castaic Middle School and rarely are you able to bring back so many people.”
In attendance was special guest Beverly Silsbee, who was the school’s principal for several decades and one of the few people who witnessed the time capsule being built. She eventually became superintendent for the school district until retiring in 2005.
Silsbee shared the history of Castaic Middle School, and the trailers students took classes in at local park. Silsbee also taught swimming before becoming principal during the 1970s. The trailers used for classes began disintegrating, which pushed the teachers and local community members to advocate for a permanent fully functioning facility, she said.
“Our teachers went out, we passed a bond to fund building a new middle school and eventually it happened,” she said. “Even when we were in trailers, we were a humble campus. We were a distinguished school in those days and a school to watch. It’s not always [about] the way you look.”
Castaic Middle School moved to its current campus and the ASB teacher at the time thought of creating a time capsule. With a lot of hard work, patience, and community involvement, the time capsule was filled and buried.
The time capsule unearthing was meant to happen sooner, but with the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic “we had to keep putting it off,” said Silsbee. “It should have happened in 2021.”
The opportunity to reconnect with former colleagues was something Silsbee described as special. “We became a family and I think it’s because we worked so hard together. I think a lot of [the former] staff feels that way.”
During the ceremony, the time capsule was updated, and students of the 2024 graduating class filled up a new waterproof tool box with items they believed people in 25 years would enjoy opening.
“It’s exciting. It’s just fun to see them excited about something. I really think it’s an important appreciation of the history of establishing your story,” added Silsbee about the time capsule tradition being kept.
The new time capsule had Apple AirPods, Taylor Swift Eras Tour bracelets, a bag of Taki’s Chips and much more placed in it. The new time capsule is scheduled to be opened in 2046 for the school’s 50th anniversary.
