Time Capsule
ABC News Covers the Palms Time Capsule Ceremony (Saturday, May 16, 2026)
What Was in the 1976 Time Capsule
Download these documents for descriptions and photos of each item that we found in the 1976 Time Capsule.
Photos from the Time Capsule Ceremony
Time Capsule Apparel
Friends of Palms sold specially designed Time Capsule T-shirts and Time Capsule hoodies celebrating the Palms Year of the Time Capsule and the United States 250th Anniversary. Both had the Palms panther logo on the front and a red, white, and blue U.S. history timeline on the back.
Only a limited number were made available, as keepsakes and souvenirs of the Time Capsule events. As of Fall 2026, only a small inventory is left. Contact Friends of Palms for a last chance to purchase a T-shirt or hoodie. Once they are sold out, they are gone for good!
Time Capsule Ceremony
Over 300 people attended the ceremony for the opening of the 1976 Time Capsule on Saturday, May 16, 2026.
Speakers included:
- Principal Mr. Enriquez
- Magnet Coordinator Dr. Kelley Girvan
- California State Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (District 28)
- Los Angeles City Council member Katy Yaroslavsky (District 5)
- Mia Thiagarajan, representative for U.S. Congress member Ted Lieu (District 36)
- Karen Calderon, representative for California State Assembly member Isaac Bryan (District 55)
- LAUSD Board of Education member Sherlett Hendy Newbill (District 1)
- Event Coordinator Dr. Neil Cuada
- 1976 Palms Junior High School Student Body President Dr. Kyndall Brown
- Students from Sixth Grade Leadership
- Students from Senior Leadership
Palms was presented with three Certificates of Recognition for the occasion.
A new Palms Panther mascot and flag were presented, the 1976 Time Capsule was opened, and 19 Palms students put the first items into the 2026 Time Capsule.
April News
Time Capsule ceremony: Students and their families who wanted to attend the Time Capsule ceremony on Saturday, May 16, 2026 completed the reservation form and checked-in upon arrival.
Doors opened at 9am. The ceremony began at 10am.
Donate!
Donors are helping us prepare and bury the 2026 Time Capsule. Your tax-deductible donation will be used for
- the Time Capsule container
- some of its contents
- archival-quality photo printing and digital storage
- a ground marker
- expenses for the 1976 Time Capsule unveiling on May 16
Donations of any amount are gratefully accepted for this once-in-a-generation Palms Middle School project. You can pay with PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, credit cards, or a linked bank.
Donor special recognition
- Those who donated $100 or more by April 30, 2026 had their names engraved on a Palms Time Capsule Supporters plaque, sealed in the 2026 Time Capsule.
- Those who donated $200 or more were designated as Platinum Donors.
March News
Time Capsule Weekly Surveys are complete. Math students have made graphs of the results that will be placed in the 2026 Time Capsule.
Two donation drives were in progress:
- Time Capsule fundraising: Donate any amount
- Time Capsule contents: Families and organizations donated items from our Time Capsule Wishlist. Thank you to our donors!
February news
Time Capsule Weekly Surveys continue. The previous surveys were about food, sports, music, TV, and movies. The current survey is about fun and games, with a submission deadline of Friday, February 27. The charts or graphs made by math students, showing the survey results, will be placed in the 2026 Time Capsule.
January news
The date is set! We will be opening the 1976 Time Capsule and unveiling the contents on Saturday, May 16, 2026, from 10:00am to 11:00am, on the central quad. Stay tuned for news about attending this event.
Time Capsule Weekly Surveys began on January 26. Each week, we're asking students about their favorites on a given topic, such as food. Math students make charts showing the survey results, and the charts will go in the Time Capsule when it's buried in May. This way, students of the future will be able to learn about students of the present.
The Search is On... for Palms Students from 1976!
We're looking for students who attended Palms Junior High School in 1976. We're searching school records, using social media, asking volunteers to help with the search, and using word-of-mouth connections.
If you are a 1976 Palms student
If you attended Palms Junior High School in the 1975-1976 school year, please fill out our Former Palms Junior High School survey: https://bit.ly/PalmsJuniorHighSchool
If you know how to contact a 1976 Palms student
Please email us their contact information.
If you want to help us search for 1976 Palms students
To help via Facebook, please join the Palms Middle School Time Capsule group.
To help in other ways, please fill out the Time Capsule Volunteer Form.
Palms 2026 Yearbook
The Year of the Time Capsule was the theme for the Palms 2026 yearbook.
Some pages had students' answers to questions: What do you think is inside the Time Capsule? If you could go back in time to any point in history where would you go and why?
One page was a "Then and Now" gallery with photos of former Palms students from 1976, showing their 1976 yearbook photo and their current photo.
Yearbook back cover, with the 1976 Time Capsule plaque:
Overview
Fifty years ago, as part of the 1976 celebration of the United States Bicentennial (200-year anniversary), students at Palms Junior High School (as it was known then) buried a Time Capsule on the central quad. We didn't know what the time capsule looked like, how big it was, or what was in it.
In 2026, as part of the celebration of the United States Semiquincentennial (250-year anniversary), we dug up the 1976 time capsule and opened it in a ceremony attended by over 300 current and former Palms students, staff, and special guests. We also celebrated the Palms 2026 Year of the Time Capsule with programs related to history, to the 1976 time capsule, and to the plan to bury a 2026 time capsule.
Fifty years from now, as part of the 2076 celebration of the United States Tricentennial (300-year anniversary), we expect Palms students to dig up the 2026 time capsule and learn about our world in 2026.
Time Capsule News Coverage
See the Palms Press page for back issues with articles from the Year of the Time Capsule:
| Issue | Article title |
| Oct 2025 | Camp Palms Students Learn About 1976 Time Capsule |
| Nov 2025 | What was happening in 1976? |
| Dec 2025 | Friends in 1976 and Today |
| Jan 2026 | Fashion Flashback |
| Feb 2026 | Things Change But Friendships Remain |
| Mar 2026 | A Media Throwback |
| Apr 2026 | Time Capsule X-Ray Reveals Bones (April Fools joke) |
| May/Jun 2026 | Time Capsule Secrets Revealed |
Time Capsule Art Contest
Students were invited to submit original artwork on the theme of "Study the Past! Observe the Present! Imagine the Future!"
Students considered three questions:
- What was it like in the year 1976, when the U.S. celebrated its 200th anniversary?
- What's it like now, as the U.S. celebrates its 250th anniversary?
- What will it be like in 2076, when the U.S. celebrates its 300th anniversary?
The contest ran from December 1, 2025 to January 23, 2026.
Winners were selected for each grade level. The winning artwork will be placed in the 2026 Time Capsule, buried in Fall 2026, and opened in 2076. Digital scans of all contest artwork will also be placed in the Time Capsule.
Winners
1st place:
- Eleonora Beylin (6th grade)
- Adelaide Wallis (7th grade)
- Abigail Rison (8th grade)
2nd place:
- Nicolas Van Den Bosch (6th grade)
- Naomi Ominsky (7th grade)
3rd place:
- Josephine Rademacher (6th grade)
- Caitlin Cardano (7th grade)
"What's in the Time Capsule?" contest
Students predicted what we would find in the 1976 Time Capsule. They earned points for each correct guess but lost points for each incorrect guess. Dozens of students entered the contest.
Congratulations to the winners for their excellent predictions!
- First place: Oscar Ashby (6th grade) - winner of a Time Capsule T-shirt and Time Capsule hoodie
- Second place: Zurie Dinani (7th grade) - winner of a Time Capsule T-shirt
- Third place: Ela Veli (8th grade) - winner of a Time Capsule T-shirt
Oscar Ashby, Zurie Dinani, and Ela Veli
Student Surveys and Charts
Each week from January to March 2026, Palms students voted for their favorites by filling out a Time Capsule Weekly Survey. Palms students in the year 2076 will open the Time Capsule and learn about the opinions and preferences of Palms students from way back in 2026.
| Week | Topic | Questions about your favorite |
| 1 | Food | pizza topping, ice cream flavor, etc. |
| 2 | Sports | P.E. activity, sport to watch, sport to play, etc. |
| 3 | Music | solo artist, musical group, song from a show or movie, etc. |
| 4 | TV and Movies | TV show, recent movie, older movie, etc. |
| 5 | Fun and Games | card game, board game, video game, etc. |
| 6 | People and Places | author, athlete, actor, city, country, etc. |
Palms math students created charts showing the results of each survey question. Three charts – made by 6th grade students Annaly Garcia, Naomi Jackson, and Rylie Lovejoy – –will be placed in the 2026 Time Capsule, buried in Fall 2026, and opened in 2076. Digital scans of all charts will also be placed in the Time Capsule.
Three Students in Leadership – Crystal Martinez, Aubrie Mendez, and Tristan Ortonio – made large posters showing the results of survey questions.
Class of 1976/1977/1978 Reunion
On May 16, 2026, about 60 former Palms Junior High School students from 1976 got together in the Student Cafeteria to reconnect with long-lost friends and reminisce about attending Palms when the 1976 Time Capsule was buried.
Some took a walk through the tunnel, which they remembered from their early teen years. Some admired the exhibit of school newspaper issues from 1976. Some won raffle prizes.
Time Capsule Project Leaders
Arturo Enriquez
Principal
