A Surprise Time Capsule

by Becky Lusk

White Oak Early Learning Center underwent some renovations this summer, adding more preschool classrooms for our youngest student group. Construction crews took a step back in time as they removed a wall of cabinets. 

On October 5, 1994, then White Oak first grade teacher Mrs. Karie Mize and her class of students added their names and hand prints to the wall before cabinets were added. Twenty-nine years later and through the power of social media, now White Oak Principal Karie Mize was able to reunite with a few students to take a walk down memory lane. 

None of the students remembered tracing their handprints back in 1994, but it was clear they reminisced that their time at White Oak Elementary held a special place. They browsed the year book remembering friends and a simpler time.

Mrs. Mize led them to the handprint wall. Each one traced their hand again and took pictures before the wall came down to expand the classroom.

As we grow as a district, change is inevitable. Walls will come down, updates will change the landscape but the memories each year we create for our students will last a lifetime.