Emerson Elementary Principal Tabatha Efaw, along with fourth graders Nicole Ball and Mason Hill, prepare a time capsule at the school Wednesday that they will bury by the flagpole to be opened in 30 years. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

PARKERSBURG — Students, teachers, alumni and administrators all gathered in the Emerson Elementary gym Wednesday as the school opened a time capsule from 1994.

“I have some amazing fourth graders,” Emerson Elementary Principal Tabatha Efaw said. “They completely planned all of this. They did such a wonderful job.”

Fourth graders Ava Myers, Liam Hunter and Jordyn Jones helped Efaw unveil the capsule’s contents that included letters from fourth graders in 1994, a yearbook, a Nintendo Power magazine, a phone book and a VHS tape pulled out by Hunter.

“He has no idea what this is,” Efaw said. “This is a VHS tape. And this must be a fourth grade program performed in May 1994 at a PTA meeting. They must have done a lot at that meeting. We’ll try to find a VHS player and try it out.”

Former Principal James Bredon answered questions from Efaw and students about what school was like back then. He said the school had around 650 students and they all walked to and from school.

Emerson Elementary Principal Tabatha Efaw holds up a cassette tape that was pulled from a time capsule buried by students of the school in 1994. Fourth graders Ava Myers, Liam Hunter and Jordyn Jones helped Efaw unveil the capsule’s contents Wednesday while former principal James Bredon looked on. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

“We never worried about them,” Bredon said.

He said there 15 doors going in and out of the school and they were all open. He said if someone saw someone in the hallways they would stop and ask if they needed help.

“We had great students, we had great teachers, it was just phenomenal,” Bredon said.

Efaw asked Bredon about a rumor that’s been going around since the 90s.

“Have you, or have you not, ridden a horse in the Emerson halls?”

Former Emerson Elementary Principal James Bredon talked to current principal Tabatha Efaw during a Q&A Wednesday as the school prepared to open a time capsule from 1994. Bredon talked about his time as a principal that year and the many more he had at the elementary. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

“I have,” Bredon said, getting a laugh from the crowd.

Students then got to ask questions they wanted to know about the school in 1994. They asked what the playground was like back then, what did the mall look like and what the school looked like.

“The same, but improved,” Bredon said. “The school looks great.”

He told the students the Emerson Eagle has always been their mascot and that their sports teams were really good back then.

With the help of fourth graders Mason Hill and Nicole Ball, Efaw then packed the 2024 time capsule that will be buried by the flagpole and opened in another 30 years. Items included a newspaper article about a recent visit to the school by the governor, a rubber duck, this year’s yearbook, a homemade statue of the Emerson Eagle mascot, a copy of the lunch menu and pop-its.

Former Emerson Elementary Principal James Bredon pictured in the school’s yearbook in 1994. Bredon visited the school Wednesday as they opened a time capsule students put together in 1994. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

“One of our favorite fidgets is the pop-it,” Efaw said. “And I printed out an article explaining what a pop-it is.”

The capsule also included essays written by fourth graders talking about their time at the school that will be shared with students in 2054.

Douglass Huxley can be reached at dhuxley@newsandsentinel.com

Emerson Elementary fourth grader Jordyn Jones, center, reads a note from another Emerson fourth grader written in 1994 as the school opened a time capsule from that year. Also pictured is fourth grader Liam Hunter, Emerson Elementary Principal Tabatha Efaw and former principal James Bredon. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

Former Emerson Elementary Principal James Bredon visits with students as they head back to class Wednesday after the school opened a time capsule prepared by fourth graders in 1994. Bredon was the principal during that time. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)