École Lacombe Upper Elementary School Opens 25-Year-Old Time Capsule
École Lacombe Upper Elementary School (ÉLUES) turned back the clock at the end of January by opening a time capsule that had been sealed for a quarter century.
The gold-painted container—wrapped in chains and marked with a note reading “Please open January 2025”—was discovered in the school’s basement about a year and a half ago.
“It caught our attention,” said Craig Fullarton, ÉLUES principal. “We’ve been excited ever since, and people have been asking about it constantly.”
The time capsule was originally sealed in January 2000, a project that Wayne Hampton—who served as principal at the time—credits to the staff’s forward-thinking creativity.
“Someone—or a group on our staff—had this brainwave that we should put a time capsule together as a celebration as we turned into the 2000s, and that it should be sealed for 25 years,” said Hampton.
“It always amazed me…the creativity of the staff. Many people have asked me about the success of my principalship, and I always said: ‘Surround yourself with wonderful people.’ And in the 19 years I was here, I had nothing but wonderful people who always came up with creative ideas.”
The capsule was opened in an event surrounded by current and former school staff and revealed a treasure trove of nostalgia: newspapers from the turn of the millennium, school newsletters, and a teen magazine featuring then-rising star Britney Spears on the cover. One class had even included McDonald’s Happy Meal toys of characters from Toy Story 2, which was a popular movie in theaters at the time. There were also handwritten predictions of futuristic marvels—like flying cars and cures for major diseases—that captured the hopes and dreams of students at the dawn of the new century.
“It’s crazy to think the year 2000 was 25 years ago,” said Fullarton. “Most of us blink and realize how quickly time passes. We’ve got staff members here who were teaching back then—and they can’t believe how fast those years have flown.”
Fullarton added it was important to invite former staff to the event.
“We did a lot of digging into the archives to reach out to everyone,” he said.
“Many of our present staff were here in those days, too, which really speaks to the sense of continuity and community we have at École Lacombe Upper Elementary School. We have photos from 25 years ago still hanging on our walls—and many of the people in them are right here, still teaching.”
He said there is a rich history at the school and its connection to Lacombe.
“We had the grad class of 1959 come through recently for their 65-year reunion. The history here just seeps out of the walls, so it’s nice to reflect on it and look ahead at the same time.”
Now that it has been opened the plan is to display the items so current students can also see the contents from the capsule.
“They want to see how life was back then, which might feel like ancient history to them,” said Fullarton.