Arlington ISD digs up memories from 1993 time capsules

Crews dug up history at an Arlington Independent School District school slated for demolition by unearthing time capsules from more than three decades ago.

Patrick Carson read a note he wrote as a 7th grader on a sweltering summer day outside Carter Junior High School. That note had been buried in the ground since 1993. Fast forward to 2026, when Carson noticed construction crews tearing down his old school.

"That's when I reached out to Arlington ISD," Carson said. 

Arlington ISD project manager Rod Sanches and his crew carefully dug for eight buried time capsules and discovered relics of the past.

"I took it very personally because the first thought that came to my mind is that I would love to see something I wrote 34 years ago, so I did all I could to help," Sanches said. 

Carter Junior High School is becoming piles of rubble, but the memories of what happened inside the walls will live on, thanks to what remained inside seven plastic bottles.

Finding the note written by Carson's younger self showed him how far he's come.

"I just remember everything I was going through when I was 12. I went through my parents' divorce. I was going through a lot," Carson said. 

The goals he set as a 12-year-old, he's achieved, including going to college and being an A student.

"You don't get the opportunity to go back in time to visit where you started your knowledge base and training yourself or becoming who you're going to be in the future. It's a rare opportunity to actually see where it began and where it ended," Carson said. 

Now, Carson hopes the district will plant more time capsules to remind people of memories long gone by.

His letter from 1993 read:

"Reflections on seventh grade:

I like everything we did. Movies, parties, and more.

Reflections on myself. I was like a nice boy and went out of my way to prove it.

But nearing the end, I changed by being around kids that were bad.

I hope to be in college when we open this time capsule. I will be in high school, and I will be an A student."