Photos, notes and childhood memories found in time capsule at Canyon View Elementary

The wait was finally over. With a mix of excitement and curiosity, the students and staff of Canyon View Elementary School gathered on the blacktop Thursday morning to open one of two time capsules that were buried when the campus opened ten years ago.

What they found upon unsealing the large tube-shaped container were five smaller cylinders, each holding modest relics from the year 2000. Stashed away were books, floppy disks and at least one Beanie Baby, along with messages and predictions written by the school’s inaugural batch of students to their 2011 counterparts. “Be prepared, and don’t get into trouble, especially if you’re in Mrs. Bergquist's class,” wrote one student. (That would be Dr. Virginia Bergquist, who retired last year.") “In 2010 I will be 19 years old and I will take care of dogs,” wrote another. Founding Principal Ron Fritsch, pictured above, offered a play-by-play description of the discoveries as Canyon View's roughly 750 students looked on from the blacktop. One by one, out came photos of the school being built, a picture of a Razor scooter, a fox Beanie Baby, poems and even an “American Girl” catalog. Student lists of favorite music acts featured Blink-182, Eminem, 'N Sync and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

For some of us, the year 2000 might not seem like that long ago. But the mere presence of former Canyon View students who are now in high school and college served as testament to the passage of time. Many of them eagerly flocked to the unearthed cylinders, hoping to catch a glimpse of something familiar from their early childhoods. “It’s really just kind of a trip, just remembering what it was like to be a ’90s kid,” said Aaron Harris, now 17. In addition to Fritsch and current Principal Susan Kemp, special guests included IUSD school board member Sharon Wallin, longtime teacher Susan Horner, Superintendent Gwen Gross and Justin Wei, who was also a student when the containers went underground. As we mentioned in a previous post, two time capsules were sealed and buried back on Dec. 2, 2000, the year the school originally opened. But one of them was found to be breached when it was dug up last month. Though its contents were mostly waterlogged, some students did their best to identify the items within, sifting through the soggy evidence like CSI investigators. (Update: To read a story about the time capsules on the Orange County Register's website, click here. And be sure to check out the accompanying photos.)