Time capsules capture school life during Covid-19 pandemic

STAFF and students at Kishogue Community College celebrated the burial of three time capsules on the school grounds that captured school life during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The time capsules were buried on Wednesday, March 2, and were filled with student art, photography, letters to the future as well as items related to the Covid-19 pandemic such as hand sanitizers, face masks and antigen tests.

The time capsules will be opened in March 2032 and will give insight to what school life was like during the pandemic and details how students showed resilience and strength as they dealt with life in these difficult, unprecedented times.

“It was lovely to have a sense of community back on the day,” teacher Órlagh Geoghegan told The Echo. “It coincided with the easing of restrictions in line with government guidelines, so it was really nice for us not to have to wear face masks and get back that sense of community that we have missed.

“The students wrote letters explaining what it was like living through Covid and how schools adapted and how they had to adapt to a different way of life. We had some singing, music, some poetry from students and some students wrote speeches and we had a selection of students from junior and senior cycle to witness the burial of the capsules.”

The capsules also included written accounts from the Parents Council, newspapers covering historical world events of the last year and artefacts showing life as we know it in 2022.

“We had contributions from the parents about what it was like for online learning during the pandemic and the students captured life during the pandemic in artwork called ‘A Moment in Time’ which they put in the capsules,” Orlagh explained.

“We gathered loads of covid paraphernalia such as masks, posters and letters from the principal about the Covid outbreak. We also put in pre-covid material such as newsletters from school and newspapers on the historical outbreak on the Russian attack on Ukraine.”