The Time Capsule

When will I stop feeling like the new kid? Sydney wondered as she gazed out the classroom window.

It had been a month since school started, and she had not made one friend. “. . . yet,” Sydney’s mom would say. “You haven’t made a friend yet. But you will!” Sydney wasn’t so sure.

Her family had moved to town at the end of the summer. Then Sydney started second grade the very next week. She liked her teacher, Mrs. Jones, who was strict and silly at the same time.

Sydney wanted to like her classmates, but she had trouble getting to know them. They had all been together since preschool. Except Sydney.

That day in class, Mrs. Jones had an announcement. “Hilltop Elementary will be burying a time capsule in the school’s lawn,” she said.

A time capsule, she explained, is a collection of things from today that are buried and then dug up in the future. It shows people in the future what the past was like.

“And together, we’ll be choosing one item that represents our class community to add to the time capsule,” Mrs. Jones said. Everyone would get the chance to present an idea at the end of the day. Then the class would vote to choose the winning item.

Right away, Jana suggested that they put in a plush toy of their school mascot, Dolly the Dolphin. But Avery disagreed, “No, we should put a chocolate bar in the time capsule!”

Pretty soon, the whole class was jumping in with ideas. Everyone but Sydney.

She barely felt like part of her class community at all. How could she come up with something that her whole class would like?

When Mrs. Jones dismissed the class for recess later on, Sydney was still thinking about the time capsule. I need to think of something. Anything!

On the playground, Sydney’s classmates played and laughed together. But Sydney walked around snapping pictures with her instant camera.

Every day, she spent recess taking photos. She took photos of the clouds. She took photos of tiny bugs in the grass. Her desk was full of photos she had taken.

Sydney loved her camera and hoped to become a photographer like her mother.

“Say cheese!” Sydney said as she pointed her camera at Mrs. Jones. Mrs. Jones smiled. Sydney waved the instant photo in the air and then handed it to her teacher.

“Wow! You’re great with that camera,” Mrs. Jones said.

“Thank you,” Sydney beamed.

Mrs. Jones asked Sydney if she had thought up an idea for the time capsule, but Sydney shook her head. There were only a couple of hours until the day was over, and Sydney still hadn’t come up with anything.

Mrs. Jones tapped Sydney’s camera and said, “Maybe this camera can help you think of something.”

“Really? My camera?” Sydney was confused.

Right then, Sydney noticed Derek from her class swinging really high on the swing set. Without thinking, she snapped a picture of him just as he leapt from the swing.

Sydney looked at the photo and gasped, “That’s it!”

Back in class, Sydney rushed to write down her idea for the time capsule. She finished just as Mrs. Jones began calling students to present.

One by one, each kid presented an idea and Mrs. Jones wrote the number of votes on the board.

Sydney was the last to go. She stood up and took a deep breath, then began explaining, “My idea for the time capsule is a photo album.” She pulled her camera from her bag to show the class. “I can take pictures of everyone in our class doing different things that show what they add to our community.”

Mrs. Jones smiled at Sydney and then asked the class to vote. To Sydney’s surprise, everyone’s hand shot up. Her idea won!

The next day, Sydney went right to work taking photos for the class album. After snack, at recess, and during free time, a different kid from Sydney’s class would call her over to take their picture.

Sydney loved having the chance to spend time with the other kids in her class one-on-one. By the end of the week, she had learned that Wilson loved to play the harmonica. And Preeti danced Bhangra, a traditional Indian dance, on the weekends. And Elsie liked to build model airplanes.

With each picture, Sydney got to know someone in her class a little better. Her classmates got to know her better too.

On Friday, Sydney’s class worked together to put the photos into the album. Mrs. Jones checked to make sure there was a picture of everyone in the class. “One, two, three . . .” she counted, but stopped at the number 22 and frowned. “Someone’s picture is missing” she stated.

“It’s mine,” Sydney said. “I didn’t know what I wanted my picture to be, so I waited, but now I know!”

“Good! What’s your plan?” Mrs. Jones asked her.

“I want to take a picture with the whole class in it. Not a selfie, but an ussie!”

The class filled in around Sydney. She held up her camera and turned it to face the group. “Say cheese!”

Everyone smiled as Sydney pressed the button, and in one loud voice they yelled, “Cheese!”