Verner Elementary students add variety of items to Verona time capsule
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One of the major highlights of this year’s Jolly Jamboree in Verona was the dedication of a time capsule to commemorate the town’s 150-year anniversary.
The capsule was scheduled to be buried for 50 years inside the Verona Borough Building’s History Center and included a wide variety of items and memorabilia, but the most eager participants are the K-6 students from Verner Elementary School.
The capsule actually started off as an idea among several members of the school’s student council last year, but when the students found out Verona was planning on doing one for the sesquicentennial, the students wanted to be involved. Following an affirmative vote from the student council, sixth grade teacher and student council sponsor Kristy Lape advised the children on putting the project together. She said, “I personally loved how it was a small idea last year that turned into a school-wide project that was very impactful for the students and the community.”
Each grade at Verner used its own theme for the capsule, starting with the kindergarteners, who drew pictures of their favorite place in Verona. The first grade students included photographs and also some documentation of the big story in 2021, the covid-19 global pandemic. The second grade students submitted a survey taken by the residents of the community, while third graders put together memory jars, in which each student wrote down their favorite Verona memory and sealed it inside a jar. The fourth grade class wrote letters to people in 50 years from now, while the fifth grade class is comparing the old Cribbs field park to the new and improved Verner playground to illustrate the town’s development. Finally, the sixth graders put together a PowerPoint presentation with different slides for each student, illustrating some of their favorite things throughout Verona, such as the train and American flag murals in town.
“It was really fun to make,” said sixth grader and student council president Emily Streiff about the class project. “Just thinking about how much things have changed in just 10 years – like cellphones – imagine how much they will change in the next 50.”
Fellow sixth grader and student council vice president Ayla Mellars said, “We had a lot of fun figuring out what to put in the time capsule. It will be really good to see how much things have changed.”
The students really took control of the project, according to Lape, and that’s one of the main reasons the student submissions were so thoughtful and comprehensive. She said, “The students really owned the project. They went out on their own and they chose things from their own ideas.”
While the school’s principal, Dr. Tina Monroe, praised the children’s hard work and dedication. She said, “I just think it’s really great that the students wanted to give back to the community that gives to them. It was part of our “give back” day, and this was one of the ways that students all came together to contribute.”
The time capsule will also include items from other residents throughout Verona, including merchandise from some of the town’s businesses, audio and video recordings of some of the town’s residents, and plenty of photos for the capsule openers in 50 years to compare. Jessica Varone, chair of the Verona Community Group, said, “We want people open it and say, ‘Wow, that’s neat how much that street changed or that business has changed.”
In addition, there will also be a wide variety of covid-19 face coverings to help illustrate the full extent of the impact of the pandemic. “There’s going to be a lot of masks,” Varone said. “It’s a big part of our current time.”
This is the second attempt at a time capsule for the town of Verona. There was also one buried in 1971, however, no one kept an accurate record of where the capsule was placed. There were rumors it was under the borough building, another that it was under Bill Kay’s Bar, and yet another that it was buried under the canon statue in town. As a result, the capsule was never found. This year’s placement in the history center is designed to avoid the same problem happening again in 50 years.