Roosevelt School celebrates its 100th anniversary and will host a family leadership conference.

Roosevelt Elementary School in the Salinas City Elementary School District celebrated its 100th anniversary on Thursday, Oct. 3. It's the same school where the famous novelist John Steinbeck attended when he was a child.  

The ceremony included the opening of a time capsule then-principal Manuel Palato put together in 2000. Principal Hilda Huerta read some of the letters teachers and students left for the future generation.  

The time capsule had photos and advice from teachers and students. Huerta says one of the letters that stood out to her so far was from a student advising students of the future to do their homework and listen to their teachers.

“Thank you for those beautiful words, because we still need kids to be respectful, responsible and ready to learn, to come to school and be connected, to have that joy, to build those relationships,” Huerta says. 

Huerta says they are planning to do another time capsule to be opened in 25 years. 

The celebration will continue on Saturday, Oct. 5, when the school will host its  Fall Family Leadership Conference at Roosevelt. It’s a day-long conference with more than 30 workshops where parents learn about different topics including anxiety, parenting, gang and drug prevention, housing rights and internet safety. 

The event will have two keynote speakers, Roni Habib, author of Happy & Resilient, and Guillermo Rodriguez, who works as a medical social worker at Salinas Valley Health.

The conference is from 8am to 3pm. Breakfast and lunch will be provided. It's free to parents and guardians from the district.

SCESD will provide transportation for parents at all school sites to bring them to Roosevelt School, 120 Capitol St., Salinas, and will have activities for children while parents participate in the workshops.