Shortly after city of Albany workers dug up a time capsule in front of City Hall, students at Albany International Center buried their own time capsule outside their school.
Last Saturday, city workers discovered a 98-year-old time capsule in the foundation of a statue of Gen. Philip Schuyler they were moving. And last Tuesday, AIC students in Xrystya Szyjka’s English as a New Language class buried a time capsule they prepared that is to be opened up in 2077.
The timing was coincidental.
Szyjka’s students had read about a time capsule and asked to create their own. Students chose the contents: Each student wrote a letter about what is important to them; then the class collectively wrote a letter to future generations.
Students wrote about their experiences arriving from other countries and living through the COVID-19 pandemic. They also wrote about the value of their school. Besides the letters, the time capsule include a COVID-19 test, a face mask and gloves, along with an American history text book, a school schedule, grocery store flyers and copies of the New York Times and Times Union.
The students carefully placed the time capsule box in the ground and identified it with a stone plaque instructing that it be opened in 2077, a year they chose.
They all indicated they would like to be present when their time capsule is opened in 54 years!