SAN ANTONIO – Palo Alto College held a special ceremony Tuesday morning to celebrate the institution’s 40th anniversary.
Campus officials marked the occasion by opening a time capsule sealed in February 2016 and then filling it with new, present-day items.
The 2016 time capsule was originally sealed during the school’s 30th anniversary. Students in Ms. Mauricio’s third-grade class at Bob Hope Elementary placed the items inside.
Palo Alto College President Robert Garza said some of those same students from Mauricio’s class were invited back Tuesday to take out and showcase some of the items that were included.
Garza said the time capsule event has become a 10-year tradition for the student body and their families.
He said it allows the college to see some of its progress, as well as the progress of the community it serves.
“Every 10 years, we have elementary school students put some mementos, some messaging (in the time capsule),” Garza said. ”When they graduate from high school or are about to graduate from high school, we bring them back in, and we get to relish in the stories that they brought to our campus.”
Garza said to mark the college’s 40 years of Care and Corazon, second-grade students in Ms. Cardenas’ class at Miguel Carrillo Junior Elementary put items into another time capsule with the help of some current Palo Alto students, and it was sealed.
“It is always a momentous reaction because you’re coming in and you see our youth, our community, and where they’ve gone, and what they’ve accomplished,” Garza said. “It’s pretty amazing.
School officials said the capsule will be opened for the college’s 50th anniversary in 2035.
Garza said Palo Alto College, which was founded in 1985, has seen enrollment reach nearly 16,000 students.
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