When Stephanie Chu graduated from South San Francisco High School (SSFHS) in 1996, she and her fellow associated student body (ASB) members buried a time capsule in the school's newly constructed quad inscribed with the following message: To Be Opened May 22, 2021.
On that date, ASB students from South City High's class of 2021 gathered at school to break open the 25-year-old capsule.
It was seven days before graduation and one of the first times the students had set foot on campus during the 2020-21 school year.
“Now that COVID is lifting, it feels nice to see everyone,” said SSFHS’s current ASB President Narissa Santos.
Chu, who now goes by Stephanie Tejada, after having married and had children of her own, commiserated.
“I feel bad for the current seniors with the whole pandemic and everything, and so it’s kind of interesting that we’re going to be removing our [1996] time capsule, and then they’re [class of 2021] actually going to be putting one in that represents this year.”
The coronavirus pandemic officially arrived at South San Francisco Unified School District (SSFUSD) with the cancellation of in-person classes on March 16, 2020.
While many originally believed that such precautions would only be necessary for a few weeks, the pandemic persisted.
The class of 2020 never had the opportunity to experience a traditional graduation, and distance learning became the norm over the subsequent 14 months.
The district’s elementary school students eventually returned to classrooms for limited instruction on April 19, but middle school and high school students remained at home due to safety concerns among a majority of SSFUSD’s families and employees.
Now, unearthing the time capsule from 1996 after more than a year of social distancing and physical isolation recalled for participants the passage of time and seemingly more innocent days.
“Opening this capsule is just a good reminder to savor every moment,” said Santos.
It was also a poignant reminder of the naivete of youth.
“We were kids, so—you know—we were in high school,” said Chu. “Twenty-five years didn’t seem like a long time to us.”