(Source: Riverside Unified School District)
As a city that honors and builds on its eclectic past, one special project gave a group of Riverside students the opportunity to unveil a piece Riverside’s history, as well as create their own story to be shared in 30 years.
Students at Victoria Elementary School made an exciting find on Friday, June 7, when they dug for buried treasure reported to be hidden on the Victoria Elementary School playground. They didn’t strike gold, exactly, but did find some baseball cards, a baseball, a booklet with predictions about the future and an old penny.
The students found the items, left for them by the Class of 1981, by using instructions on a hand-printed treasure map. The time capsule was to be opened in 30 years – 2011 – but it got lost over the years. Luckily, school staff decided to embark on some spring cleaning and found an envelope containing detailed instructions on where and how to find the treasure in adrawer in the principals’ office. That led to a mission to find the missing capsule.
Victoria teachers decided to celebrate the unearthing of the 1981 time capsule by replacing it with one from today to be opened in 30 years. Louise Berkley’s sixth grade class won the honor in a democratic drawing. Each student wrote a paragraph about what the year 2043 would be like and what they might be up to. Most students wrote they wanted to be married with two children, Mrs. Berkley noted. Along with the laminated paragraphs and student photos went pictures of science camp and other fun Victoria events…all on a cd. Mrs. Berkley questioned if technology might not be so advanced by then that the students who find the time capsule would not know what to do with it.
Eleven-year-old Bryce Meyer, one of the first to get a turn with the shovel to dig for the treasure, agreed.
“They’ll think we had zero technology,” he said, adding that he thought the project was “really cool and interesting.”
“This was such anexciting event for our students! With their elementary school career ending, and their middle school life beginning, a time capsule really sums up their feelings this time of year,” explained Berkley. “One other significant result has been the exposure to ‘real-life’ archaeological digging, a huge part of our social studies curriculum in sixth grade since we study ancient civilizations. It’s truly been a unique opportunity for them, and for the Victoria community.”
To view more pictures from the event, visit the RUSD Facebook page.