Life in the time of pandemic: Students capture memories

BIG STONE GAP — 20 boulders across, 13 feet back and three feet down.

That is the placement of the time capsule buried by Union High School students this week.

The placement is significant because March 13, 2020 is the day when Virginia schools were closed due to the pandemic.

The time capsule is filled with the students’ reflections on the past year. Triplets Madeline, Amelia and Emily Clark, along with Ava Pennington and Ally Clem, placed the capsule in the ground.

Connie Carico with Family, Career and Community Leaders of America at Union High School stated that it was one of her students, Caleb Fielder, who came up with the idea of the time capsule.

According to Carico, between 40-50 students contributed to the project.

“There were dozens of students that worked on this,” noted Amelia Clark.

“A lot of hard work when into this project,” stated Amelia’s sister Madeline.

Inside the time capsule is a COVID survival kit that includes a mask, hand sanitizer and gloves. There are also a few news articles about projects that the students have done, calendars, a USB drive of the yearbook and the virtual FCCLA conference. Because it was an election year, both Biden and Trump signs can be found in the capsule. There is also a bag full of tickets for cancelled events, including the prom.

“The Year as I Saw It” is the name of the many memoirs that students placed in the capsule, expressing how they felt about everything going on in the world due to the pandemic.

“We were trying find something that would give voice to as many students that we could,” said Carico.

For Carico, the project was sentimental for other reasons as well. “We’re standing on Powell Valley,” she said, referring to the location where the old high school stood.

“That shovel,” she said as the students took turns refilling the hole with dirt, “is the one that was used to break ground for Union.”

The students plan to open the time capsule in 2028 after last year’s freshmen have graduated from college.