Time capsules from decades past always seem to reveal predictions that, at times, can be far-fetched — whether it’s living on the moon or teleportation.
But a time capsule recently opened at an Edmonton school contained one child’s big dream that actually came true.
It was 26 years ago when students and staff filled the gym at Good Shepherd Elementary School and filled a box with memories and keepsakes.
“The year 2000 was a big deal, so we wanted to do something that would celebrate the changing of the century,” said Mark McFarlane, who suggested the idea when he was chair of the parent advisory council at the time.
Projects made by the students and photos from the time capsule are now on display around the school. The time capsule itself was plastered with drawings from the students, Pokémon cards, newspaper cutouts and NHL player cards.
Students at the time also recorded a video, which included predicting the future.
The students guessed that some jobs would be done by robots, some people would be living in outer space and there would be flying cars.
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We’re still waiting for that last one, but then there was this prediction: A young student was asked what he would like to be doing as a job 25 years from now. He said playing as a hockey player in the NHL. He also said his favourite team was the Edmonton Oilers, and he would like to play for them in 25 years.
That student was Tyler Ennis, who made his NHL debut in 2009 for the Buffalo Sabres.
He retired after a 13-year career, playing 700 games. Although it wasn’t exactly 25 years later, he fulfilled his wish of playing for the Oilers in 2020.
On Thursday, Ennis was back at the school for the first time in more than 20 years. That video came as a nice surprise.
“I remember generally that we were doing a time capsule. I don’t remember doing the video, I don’t remember doing anything in the time capsule,” Ennis said.
“When they were playing the video, I was tearing up a little bit, trying to keep it together because it’s pretty cool.”
Ennis now lives in Switzerland with his family. Ennis, along with other school alumni who took part in the time capsule, received a letter their parents wrote to them 26 years ago.
“I haven’t opened it yet, so I think I’m going to take it back with me and maybe I’ll open it with them because I think that’s going to be pretty special,” he said.
Ennis also gave a speech to the students and staff as part of the time capsule celebrations. He said it was important to come back and tell the kids to dream big.
“When I was younger, I would look at NHL players as maybe larger than life,” Ennis said.
“So I wanted to tell the kids today that NHL players look just like them.”
Current students at the school say it was nice to take a look at the past.
“Life has really changed; I’m surprised what’s happened. Looking at the time capsule, what was in it was really special,” Grade 6 student Grayson Hohmann said.
However, living without their phone and current technology might be difficult.
“Right now, I’m comfortable with how 2026 is like, although it would be cool to go back in time and see how it was,” Grade 6 student Natalia Harris said.
And if a time capsule is tucked away in 2026, another future Oilers superstar may be remembered.
“I really liked the Wayne Gretzky card on the time capsule; it was really cool seeing their generation,” Hohmann said.
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