Last year I wrote about Berea’s 50th anniversary year. Well, the year has arrived and it is off to a “groovy” start. We opened our time capsule and were amazed at what we found. Life was very different in 1969 compared to life in 2019.

Currently, the contents of the time capsule are in the lobby display case along with many pictures such as, class pictures, event pictures and pictures of students and staff. There are also newspapers from 1969 along with items from the students of 1969 such as kindergarten hand prints and essays about what Berea was like as a brand new school. Students and teachers have started thinking about ideas and projects to put in the Time Capsule at the end of the school year.

In October, we celebrated 50 years of quality education with our Family Math Night, affectionately named, Nifty Fifty. Our math games were based around the number 50. Students and parents had a great time. On the fiftieth day of school, students and staff came dressed in gold or bright yellow to honor Berea’s 50 years. In December, classes will create gold stars to put on our PTO Wish Tree. In January, our chorus will debut some new songs related to our school and a particular decade. These songs are also connected to the anniversary of the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. As we move through the rest of the school year, there will be more events that will eventually conclude with returning the Time Capsule to the cornerstone of the building for the next 50 years!

If there are memories you’d like to share or photos you may have of the school, you can send them to the Berea 50th Anniversary Committee via email at Berea50@vcsdny.org. Thank you to all who have already reached out to us. We are very excited about Berea Elementary School’s 50th Anniversary.