Former Shady Lane Elementary School students and staff from the year 2000 reflected on that time during the capsule’s opening on Jan. 15.
Shady Lane Elementary School hosted a ceremony on Jan. 15 to open a 25-year-old time capsule.
Students, teachers and staff who were at the school in January of 2000 – about 85 of them – met with their 2025 counterparts, said Shady Lane principal John Merulla.
The idea came about from students of sixth-grade teacher Albert Boye in the 1999-2000 school year. The capsule was made possible with a grant from the Deptford Foundation of Excellence.
“We started to get calls about it, asking us if we could do something about the capsule,” Merulla explained. “We had to actually find the capsule since it was so well hidden. We reached out to as many people as we could about opening it.”
The opened capsule revealed baseball cards for some of the sports biggest stars 25 years ago, such as Ken Griffey Jr. and Sammy Sosa; Beanie Baby toys; an old TV remote, a cell phone; and a commemorative issue of Time magazine dated Jan. 1, 2000.
There were also items exclusive to Shady Lane’s past, including lists of students and staff, pictures of each class and a school parent handbook. Essays written by students in first through sixth grades reflected on what the year 2025 would be like.
A slideshow presentation featured major moments from the year 2000, among them that year’s NBA championship, its notable movies and hottest video games and what a cell phone looked like then. For current students, it was a glimpse of the past; for those from 25 years ago, it was a nostalgic reflection on childhood.
“It was a celebration,” Merulla noted. “We always consider ourselves a family. Just because you graduate from Shady Lane, it doesn’t mean you’re not welcome here anymore.”
A new capsule featuring objects from this year will be opened in 25 years – in 2050.
