The Middle School Archive Project Student Motivation & Dropout Prevention - an interesting project that aims to provide a physical connection to each student's future.

"The Middle School Archive Project is centered on a 10-year time-capsule and class reunion plan designed to provide a physical connection to each student's future. The first Archive was a 350-pound vault, bolted to the floor in the Quintanilla Middle School lobby in Dallas in 2005. The Archive has 10 shelves to hold letters from 8th grade classes until their 10-year class reunion. Students write these letters to themselves before leaving the 8th grade. The letter is about their achievements and stories from their life. It will document their efforts toward personal growth and their goals. They seal the finished letter into a self-addressed envelope. They then pose with their Language Arts Class in front of the Archive, holding their letters for a photo. After the photo they each place their letter into the Archive themselves. They receive a copy of the photo with information on the back about their planned 10-year reunion. They know that at the reunion they will retrieve their letter and also be invited to give their "10 years of Wisdom Talk" to then current 8th grade students. They are advised to prepare now for questions 10 years in the future such as: "Would you do anything differently if you were 13 again?""