By Gerri Miller
Elmore/Autauga News
Students and faculty at Prattville Junior High School (PJHS) may find a few items buried in a time capsule yesterday a bit strange but completely appropriate if they read their history books.
In honor of PJHS’s 50th Anniversary and its transition from North Highland School in 1969, Prattville High School Senior Robert Humphrey and Boy Scout Troop 25 buried a time capsule in front of the school as part of Humphrey’s Eagle Scout project.
The time capsule will be dug up in 2040. What are some of the items buried? Hand sanitizer, face masks, and a red silicone arm band used at PJHS to designate those at higher risk of contracting COVID-19 and having complications.
Other items include historical documents concerning the land the school sits on, calculators, a smart phone to represent the device held by 90 percent of the student body and faculty members, an English teacher T-shirt, COVID-19 scientific information and student accounts of what the year was like dealing with the pandemic.
Toilet paper was also included to represent the massive shortages at the beginning of the pandemic when people were nervous and stockpiled essentials
The audience laughed as PJHS Principal Janice Stockman said a Common Core Math Assessment workbook was included. She said a baseball signed by the physical education staff was included as well as list of slang words popular in 2020-21 like social distancing and “flatten the curve.”
Stockman said a few items will be sealed but not buried such as a memory book from North Highland School that explains the history and significance of the school, a sweat shirt from the last graduating class of the North Highland Panthers, and a 2020-21 PJHS yearbook.
“It is an honor to celebrate 50 years of an amazing school and to honor the tradition of excellence in this building, even before it became Prattville Junior High School as it stands today,” Stockman said.
Stockman said 115 students took a survey which will be included with questions such as what they think life will be like in 2040.
Humphrey, who will attend Auburn University next year and major in aerospace engineering, said the project took about two months to complete. He has been in scouting since the first grade and is also a member of the PHS marching band and Prattville First United Methodist Church.
“Principal Stockman approached me with the idea for the time capsule project,” he said. The 17-year-old Prattville High School (PHS) senior said he enjoyed putting the project together because of the knowledge he gained.
“I didn’t know anything about the history of North Highland School,” Humphrey said. “Lots of things that might have been thrown out will be preserved for future generations.”
The school was originally built as North Highland School and served secondary students. It was an all-black school. The school integrated in 1970 and became Prattville Junior High School. The class of 1969 was the final graduating class of North Highland and the following year was a transition year.
The crowd which attended the time capsule ceremony included a number of local dignitaries, including Autauga County School Superintendent Tim Tidmore, Mayor Bill Gillespie, Prattville Police Chief Mark Thompson, Prattville City Councilman Marcus Jackson and Autauga County Commissioner Larry Stoudemire.
Stockman said that pausing to reflect on the school’s past while “celebrating the giants upon whose shoulders we stand” is a memorable opportunity and a challenge to continue the path of excellence.
“Blessings on the next twenty years,” she said. “When this time capsule is unearthed, I will be almost 70 years old and pray I am here to see the celebration and honor those who have continued the tradition of excellence.”
“I am certain our world will have changed in many ways, yet I hope the students who walk these halls will continue to be Respectful, Responsible, and Resourceful,” Stockman continued.
PJHS serves 1,020 students in seventh and eighth grades. It is the largest traditional junior high school in the state of Alabama. See more photos below.
