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San Antonio Students Keep Promise, Get Letters From Time Capsule

San Antonio — A group of South Texas third graders gathered at a community college in 2006 to bury a time capsule, with a promise from the school they’d be offered two-year scholarships if they graduated from high school.

Now nine years later, the students are seniors at South San Antonio High School and are on their way to fulfilling their end of the bargain. They met at Palo Alto College on Tuesday to read letters they wrote to themselves and collect toys they once cherished, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

“At the time, it didn’t really mean much,” student Richie Perez said. “We were in the third grade. I couldn’t really see myself graduating high school ... we’ve kept that promise and now we're going to be able to get our two years.”

Katarina Valdez, 18, said she plans to accept the scholarship and wants to become a social worker. She wrote in her letter that she liked to play checkers and watch the Disney Channel TV shows “Lizzie McGuire” and “That’s So Raven.”

The total value of the scholarships is expected to be $225,000 for the first year, or more than $5,600 per student, said the college’s president, Mike Flores.

The scholarships will cover tuition, books and fees for full-time students, Flores said. Students must complete 24 credits, or roughly eight classes, with a minimum 2.5 grade point average in their freshman year to retain the scholarship their sophomore year.