Bishop Mac Capsule

TRIBUNE PHOTO BY VIRGINIA MCDONALD

Beta tapes and big hair - it's history, especially for former Bishop Macdonell teacher Joe Tersigni's history class of 1981, who opened a time capsule Thursday that they filled 25 years ago. The opening marked the school's 150th anniversary in 2006. Former students Dave Shaftoe (left), Paul Synnott and Linda Carey were among those who'd contributed everything from student profiles to music tapes to the time capsule. Even an old school uniform kilt and cap gave today's students a glimpse of what it was like to be a student in '81. Included was a sketch by student Peter Klienveld of the original downtown school that stood on the hill overlooking Macdonell Street. Bishop Macdonell teacher Mike Rossit's history class of 2006 now will seek out and invite the entire class of '81 to a Dec. 7 reunion at the new Bishop Macdonell high school, which opened in 2003 on Clair Road. They will also refill with current memorabilia the capsule, which will be reopened 25 years from now to mark the school's 175th anniversary.

Guelph Mercury Article, September 2006

THEN . . . AND NOW

Opening of 25-year-old time capsule at Bishop Macdonell high school reveals a tribute to Terry Fox, long out of fashion Beta videotape

THANA DHARMARAJAH
GUELPH (Sep 29, 2006)

Joe Tersigni's notes to today's teacher

While at the school on Thursday, Joe gave me a copy of his notes that he penned in 1982, intended for the teacher of today's history class.

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Guelph Mercury Article, January 1982

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Original article (full size scan 1592px X 2920px 2.8 mb)

The Class

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The Class (full size scan 2970px X 2340px 2.4 mb)

The Big Day

Yesterday was kind of a whirlwind in some respects. I have many thoughts and feelings to post but I'll take care of them later. To start I'm going to post some scans of the original article from 1982, a class picture that was taken and Joe Tersigni's notes included in the time capsule for today's teacher. After that I'll post the newspaper articles published in today's Mercury and Tribune. Once I get all that done, I should be able to collect a few random thoughts and bang out a post on my experiences yesterday.

I will say this, the memories were almost overwhelming in some regards and often came in a great flood of remembering. The afternoon was definitely one of those " you don't want it to end" events and certainly set the stage for the big reunion in December.

The journey ends, and begins...

Twenty-five years ago a history class in Guelph, Ontario started a project. Led by an energetic young teacher, Joe Tersigni, the students created individual packages to be sealed in a time capsule commemorating the 125th anniversary of Bishop Macdonell High School. The twist - the time capsule was to be opened in twenty-five years by future Bishop Macdonell students.

Where did the time go?

I was one of those students and the time has arrived to open the capsule. On the 28th of September I will be re-uniting with an old classmate and Mr. Tersigni to participate in the unveiling. We will also have an opportunity to speak with the students of today.

Each student will receive a package from the time capsule and will attempt to contact the owner. They will have two months to research their assigned student, attempt to contact them and prepare a report. In December there will be a celebration with the students past and present to see the final results.

I decided to start this blog to chronicle the project. Hopefully the blog can serve as a central communication point for the various people involved and track the progress. I would like to invite the students to join as contributors to the blog and document their experience.

I've thought of this project off and on over the years, but now that the time is here it is exciting. High school reunions are standard fare, while this affords all of us an opportunity to connect with our past and take part in the future.