Class of 2010 Leaves its Mark for Future Generations

If shared experiences largely define and explain a generation, the students of Ramapo and Indian Hills high schools have left behind a comprehensive account of the post-millennial age for posterity's sake.

The high school students have attempted to document what it means to be a teenager in the FLOW districts in 2010 with time capsules that will not be opened for decades. With ceremonies at both schools Wednesday, the student councils completed a project more than a year in the making that sought to preserve those items and experiences that have largely defined their years at Ramapo and Indian Hills.

"It's very sentimental," said Josephine D'Amico, Ramapo's student council president. When the Ramapo community opens the time capsule in 25 years, she hopes "they really get a sense of what Ramapo was like."

Nathan LaBarba, the student council president at Indian Hills, agrees. LaBarba, who largely initiated the effort, said the students were trying to provide an answer to the question: "Who are the kids at Indian Hills High School today?"

Administrators, including the building principals and Superintendent Dr. C. Lauren Schoen, attended the ceremonies Wednesday, which were held in front of both schools. Capsules bearing the logos of Ramapo and Hills were filled with items that the senior classes helped select, with Hills burying the time capsule across from the school's main entrance. Ramapo's proceeding was ceremonial, as their time capsule will not be buried until graduation later this month.

Dr. Louis Moore, principal at Ramapo, told the senior class that the "artifacts will really give folks in the future an idea of what your year was," adding that it's "hard to believe" the school year is already coming to a close.

D'Amico said the Ramapo time capsule contains staples of student life, such as an assignment pad, ID card and district calendar; documents signifying senior year, such as a cap and gown, yearbook and Serendipity magazine; and pop culture reminders, such as an iPod, list of songs popular in 2010 and list of how much things cost. The capsule even contains a vacuum-sealed Buffalo Chicken Wrap, which student council adviser Melissa Ferro says is by far the most popular lunch offering at Ramapo.

"It's a really good representation," D'Amico said.

Additionally, the Ramapo capsule pays tribute to the late Bared "Barry" Dabaghian, a security guard who passed away earlier this spring and was "near and dear to our hearts," D'Amico said. Among the nearly 40 items placed in the capsule is a photograph of the beloved employee, as well as Dabaghian's ubiquitous megaphone.

Indian Hills' time capsule included many of the same types of items, including the school yearbook, photo albums, copies of graduation speeches, current newspapers, Braves' apparel and a copy of "Twilight," the highly successful book series that made its way to the big screen, LaBarba said. Even more items commemorate events over the past school year.

The road to Wednesday's ceremonies began last year, when LaBarba proposed the idea while running for the presidency of Hills' student council.

"It was kind of my brainchild," said LaBarba, who will attend Middlebury College in Vermont in the fall.

As far as the students know, a time capsule had never been buried at Ramapo; one thought to have been left behind at Indian Hills has since been lost. 

"We wanted to do something that left a mark," D'Amico said.

LaBarba said the students decided to make the time capsules a joint venture, as "we both shared a lot of memories." The students approached the school board administration with the idea, who "really took to it," he said.

From there, the students were largely on their own. Ferro said the student councils planned and followed through without direction from teachers or administrators. "I just advise," she said. 

"It was predominantly a student venture" and "one of the largest ventures our student council has ever taken on," LaBarba said.

Both student councils reached out to the school community at large, soliciting their opinions as to what the time capsules should contain, as they "wanted to avoid it being (just) a senior class venture," LaBarba said.

By polling different groups and clubs, the students hoped to collect a "glimpse of life in 2010," said D'Amico, who will attend the College of New Jersey in the fall.

The Ramapo community will wait 25 years to root through its time capsule, while Hills won't open theirs for 30 years.

"It gives future classes something to look forward to," LaBarba said.

Over that time, the students "will have the chance to make our country, our world, a more just, peaceful place," principal Moore said.

And when the future classes at Ramapo and Indian Hills uncover the 2010 time capsules, they'll "come to understand the tradition of excellence" in the FLOW districts, D'Amico said.