Many of those from a now-defunct Leon County school for the gifted reunited on Sunday for a look into the past. The event was the recovery of a time capsule buried by students and teachers from the former Academic Resource Center 20 years ago.
After excavating and unsealing the 2-foot length of plastic pipe, everyone gathered around to marvel at the often remarkably intact condition of the contents, mostly letters from the students to their future selves. Louise Baker was a language and culture teacher at the school when the artifacts went underground in the year 2000.
"Incredible memories!" she exclaimed as more of the long-unseen messages and artifacts were unsealed. "Wonderful, nostalgic, almost-brought-to-tears memories. We're very happy. We loved (the school) so much and it was the peak of our lives."
The time capsule was Environmental Science Teacher Sandy Beck's idea.
"I'm so happy that we were all able to come back here today," she said. "Former students - in their 30s now - and their parents and all the teachers. It was wonderful!"
Leon County closed the Academic Resource Center in 2010. The building, between Lively and TCC on Appleyard Drive, now houses the district's Adult and Commu nity Education program.
