RUSKIN, Fla. — On the eve of his retirement as Hillsborough County Schools superintendent, Jeff Eakins returned to the school where he was named "Teacher of the Year" in 1992 to help unearth a time capsule he helped create with his students 29 years ago.
- Time capsule planted in 1991
- Capsule contained newspapers, photos, VHS tapes
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As years pass, most people tend to recall one teacher in particular who left a lasting impression on their lives.
For Tiffani Smith Martinez, a former student at Cypress Creek Elementary, that teacher was "Mr. Eakins."
“He always made learning fun. It was never a chore to learn when you were in Mr. Eakins’ class,” said Martinez. “I still remember songs that he taught us to remember, things in books back in fourth and fifth grade."
On Thursday, those memories came back to life in a very vivid way.
“I remember now and then being like, ‘Oh yeah there’s a time capsule there,’" Martinez explained. "I remember having a conversation, like, ‘Do we know when we’re going to open this?’ And they were like, ‘No, we don’t really know.’”
Twenty-nine years later, just months before now-Superintendent Eakins retires, the day finally came.
“Alright, we have a time capsule," said Eakins as he pulled it out of the ground. “We’ve got a newspaper. The headline that day, ‘Storm Chance High,’” Eakins said to the group.
Everything from newspapers to photos to letters from students to a VHS tape recorded the day this capsule was planted in 1991 were found inside.
“Some things are different but some things stay the same," Eakins said. "I think is one of the things you pick up through all this — the same type of love and care that happened 29 years ago at Cypress Creek is still happening today."
And as Eakins gets ready for his next chapter, he hopes that pride will, like the time capsule, withstand the test of time.