Center Street School Opens Window On Oneonta’s Past

4-16-10

By LAURA COX
Many kids dream of finding buried treasure in their own backyards or a trap door in their closet that leads to a secret room.
So imagine Center Street School students’ surprise and delight when they found out there was a time capsule enclosed in a wall of their school.
On Monday, March 8, Angelo Ignone, of Eastman Associates, the Oneonta-based contractor, worked for two hours with a hammer and chisel to find and retrieve what Center Street School Librarian Mark Parmerter believed to be hidden behind the 1960 date stone on the newer half of the building.
Parmerter had been doing some research about the school a few years ago when he found a newspaper article from 1960, when the addition to the original 1897 building was dedicated. The article described a ceremony and mentioned a time capsule had been put in place.
With the 50th birthday of the new portion of the building approaching, he thought it would be neat to wait until now to retrieve it.
On Wednesday, April 7, Center Street students laid eyes on the time capsule for the first time when the shiny copper box with the lid almost completely closed went on display in a glass case in the mezzanine outside the school library.
Parmerter and a few other administrators are the only ones who know what is inside – apart from any community members who may remember from a half-century ago.
 “It is recommended when opening a time capsule to check and make sure what is inside has not rotted before making any large announcement,” Parmerter said.   He added enticingly: “What is in it is very well preserved.”
At their usual Friday assembly on April 9, fourth-graders taught their schoolmates about time capsules and the types of things people put in them. Then on Monday, April 12, Parmerter launched a contest in the library encouraging students to guess the contents, with prizes going to the three closest guesses.
“I think there is a teacher’s handbook and a kindergarten planner,” fourth grader John Michael Mikolaicyk, 10, guessed while peering in at the copper box.
Mary Lynch, 9, also a fourth grader listed off her guesses, “A teacher’s handbook, a class list, a test someone got back and many letters.”
The contents of the 1960 time capsule will be revealed at 6:15 p.m. on Tuesday, May 18 during a school-wide birthday party celebrating, among other things, the 113th anniversary of the 1897 building, the 50th birthday of the 1960 building, and the retirement of Principal John Cook after 26 years at Center Street School.
A teacher who was at Center Street School when the new portion of the building was dedicated will be giving a speech in addition to other guest speakers, a multimedia presentation about the history of the school, party games and an ice cream social.
The opened time capsule and its contents will be on display after the party until the end of the school year, when it will be placed back in the wall with items from today’s school including class photos, a copy of the Center Street School history book produced by last year’s fourth-grade class and a letter to the class of 2060.