‘Nice to look back’: Edmonton school opens 25-year-old time capsule

Students and staff at Good Shepherd Catholic Elementary in Edmonton opened a time capsule from the year 2000 on Thursday. CTV News' Amanda Anderson was there.

It was 2000 when students at Good Shepherd Catholic Elementary School stowed away letters, photos and interviews on VHS in hopes future students would admire their relics.

Today, students opened that very capsule which revealed what life was like for kids 25 years ago.

Of those video interviews included one from a Grade 3 student who said he wanted to be playing in the National Hockey League in 25 years.

That student was none other than former Edmonton Oiler Tyler Ennis, who ended up playing more than 700 NHL games in his career.

Ennis was at Good Shepherd Thursday during the unveiling of the capsule.

“When you spend your whole life looking forward, it’s nice to look back a little bit now,” Ennis told CTV News Edmonton. “I’m just so happy to come back to a place that really fostered a great culture and helped with my development and was just a safe space for me when I was a kid.”

Grade 6 student Anderson Hautmann hopes he can also someday play professional hockey.

“It was really cool just getting to see (Ennis) and what he was like when he was younger,” said Hautmann, donning an Oilers’ jersey. “I just really hope I can also be in the NHL.”

To mark the millennium, the school sealed a time capsule to be opened in the 2025-2026 school year.

“I saw that the century was turning, and we should do something to recognize that,” said former school advisory chair Mark McFarlane. “I’m all about nostalgia, so I thought this would be really neat to plan for the future … and I’m so glad it came to fruition.”

Sisters Keria, Jenna and Makayla Doll returned to Good Shepherd to experience the opening of the capsule.

“I’ve always loved this kind of thing,” said Jenna. “I’m a very sentimental person, so when we found out about this last year, we really wanted to be here, so we made the time.”

Jenna said she’ll have fun sharing the memories with her kids.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Amanda Anderson