Anxious Honors Archeology students filled the Museum Connections room at Monticello Trails Middle School on Thursday, Aug. 25, preparing to open two airtight military boxes. Covered with flags and the letters “USA,” these boxes sat on a row of tables, filled with artifacts from Sept. 11, 2001. Social studies teacher Keil Hileman and his seventh grade students created the time capsules 10 years ago to make sure students in the future remembered Sept. 11.

“There were concerns raised,” Hileman said. “What are the kids in the future going to say and do and know about 9/11, and how can we help them?”

Ten years later, junior Michaela Jamison prepared to open the time capsules, unsure of what they contained.

“There was all sorts of excitement not knowing what was in the boxes,” Jamison said. “Once we found out, it was riveting.”

Students who opened the boxes found patriotic flags, stickers, a yo-yo, shirts and coins along with newspapers from Sept. 12 and the following weeks. Senior Josh Johnston benefitted from seeing the artifacts at the opening.

“I really enjoyed just seeing all that emotion from history come back to life, all the patriotism everyone had,” Johnston said.

The time capsule opening also gave students the chance to learn more about Sept. 11. Senior Garrett Scheffler especially gained a lot of knowledge, since he was so young at the time of the tradgedy.

“I learned a lot about 9/11,” Scheffler said. “I learned how chaotic it actually was and how oblivious I was to everything going on since I was so little.”

Hileman and his students planned to create a new time capsule, focusing on the 10-year anniversary of Sept. 11. Hileman collected over 450 testimonials from teachers and the community he planned to place in the new time capsule.

“I’m really glad as a teacher that the archeology class existed to open [the time capsules],” Hileman said. “There was no archeology class 10 years ago, so it’s cool to see how everything is different, how everything has changed.”