Students in Haymarket had a ‘blast from the past’ after opening a time capsule from the early 21st century.
More from a Prince William County government release:
The students at Mountain View Elementary School decided that the time capsule they recently buried at the newly opened Haymarket Gainesville Community should contain a good representation of life in the early part of the 21st Century. So they found pictures of clothes, books, shoes, stores, restaurants, hairstyles, houses, phones and other mementos and used them to create collages that were made into five posters – one for each grade at the school.
Fifth-grader Deanna Dominguez said she hoped people who dig up the time capsule in the future would see the posters and find them interesting. “I think they will think it was cool how we lived now compared to how they’re living 50 years from now.”
A plaque that marks the spot of the time capsule reads, “Time Capsule, Celebrating Completion of the Haymarket Gainesville Community Library, October 2015, Filled by Students of Mountain View Elementary School and the Friends of the Gainesville Library, Presented by Gainesville Supervisor Pete Candland.”
Candland spoke to the children in an assembly before they buried the time capsule and told them he, too, thought future students would be interested in the capsule’s contents. “Future kids will be able to open up this time capsule and get a sense of what life was like for all of you.”
Candland encouraged the children to enjoy the new library. He said libraries are amazing places to learn, meet other people and prepare for the future. “A library is like an amusement park for your mind. It is a place that you can go and learn about all sorts of different places all over the world. It is so exciting. Life is about learning something new every single day, and that is the wonderful thing about a public library.”
Fifth-grader Rylie Swenson said she thought the time capsule might give the future students ideas. “I think it will inspire them to do what we do. Maybe they’ll be inspired to do a time capsule on how they lived.”
Mountain View Elementary School Principal Adrian Harrison said the children had fun in gathering the stuff to put in the time capsule. “They’re excited. It’s so wonderful to have the children participate, and it really brings a partnership between the school and this new library that’s right next door to us.”
The children also put a little zip-lock plastic bag of dirt from the library groundbreaking into the capsule.
