Benjamin Logan Students Send a Message 50 Years Into the Future

BELLEFONTAINE, Ohio — A project inspired by a 50-year-old time capsule is giving a group of Benjamin Logan students the opportunity to leave their own piece of history for the future.

In spring 2026, Benjamin Logan Elementary fourth graders participated in a “Future Me” letter project in conjunction with the opening of the former West Mansfield Elementary time capsule, which had been buried in 1976.

Students wrote letters capturing what it was like to be a fourth grader in 2026. They documented favorite activities, popular trends, memorable events and even some of their concerns about moving on to fifth grade and middle school. They also considered what parts of everyday life in 2026 might still exist—or disappear—50 years from now.

The students, now fifth graders, recently revisited the project and made another connection between 1976, 2026 and 2076. Dave Evans and Sherry Pugh provided Timbits for the students to enjoy while discussing the future. Timbits were first introduced in 1976 and remain available today, providing a fitting example of something that has endured for 50 years.

The students’ letters will now be placed in the Benjamin Logan Central Office safe, where they are intended to remain until 2076.

There is just one important detail that no time capsule can guarantee: someone has to remember they are there.

When 2076 arrives, it will be up to a member—or members—of the Benjamin Logan Class of 2034 to remember the letters written by their fourth-grade selves and make sure they are opened.

The project creates a unique link across a century of local school history: a time capsule buried in 1976 inspired students in 2026 to preserve their own memories for 2076.

Benjamin Logan hopes that 50 years from now, members of the Class of 2034 will return, gather together and discover what their younger selves wanted them—and the future—to remember.