The First Time-Capsule Project Vault is now full!

8th graders at Quintanilla Middle School in Dallas placed their own letters to themselves, often with letters from their parents in the same envelope, into the Quintanilla Time-Capsule on May 23, 2014.  These 350+ letters will be opened again in November of 2023.  But today, by accident, an old friend of the project, Mercedes Olivera, was present to oversee the Junior Honor Society Awards Ceremony.

Mercedes Olivera, Dallas Morning News Columnist, with Bill Betzen on 5-23-14
Standing in front of the Quintanilla Time-Capsule Vault, now full!

She posed for this photo in front of the vault.  As you can see, the vault is full!  It contains about 3,500 letters from 8th grade students going back 10 years!  Mercedes wrote a wonderful article about the Time-Capsule project in 2010: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/columnists/mercedes-olivera/20100515-In-school-putting-plans-for-4535.ece   She has also mentioned it in other columns.

This week two more middle schools received vaults to begin their own Time-Capsule Projects: Zumwalt Middle School and Boude Storey Middle School.  Now the entire South Oak Cliff High School feeder pattern is doing the School Time-Capsule Project.  SOC received their vault last year.

There are now three full feeder patterns, SOC, Pinkston and Sunset, plus two other middle schools, Atwell and Brown,  for a total of 11 schools with school time-capsules inside DISD.   Over 2,000 letters are being written this month by 8th graders and seniors to themselves about their dreams for 10 years into the future.  All 11 of the vaults are slowly being filled. 

Hopefully all the School Time-Capsule Project high schools will see the same progress that Sunset has enjoyed since the project started in 2005.

Remember, this progress cost taxpayers nothing.  It is ran by volunteers.  If you want to help support School Time-Capsule Projects in DISD, tell us how you want to help or just send a check to  LULAC National Educational Service Center, School Time-Capsule Project, 345 S. Edgefield Ave, Dallas, Texas, 75208.   If you have questions please call me, Bill Betzen at my cell, 214-957-9739.  You may also call Ray de los Santos, LULAC NESC Director at 214-943-2528. 

We now have enough money for one additional vault but it has been committed to a Dallas High School.  If you want to help this reach more schools, or want to become a volunteer helping this work in your local middle school or high school, please give us a call.   This is an open source student motivation and dropout prevention project.  Take the idea and make it your own!   Change your community by making a focus on the future real!