Time capsule opening continues anniversary celebrations

IC photo/Laura Vallejo

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Juan Diego Catholic High School Principal Dr. Galey Colosimo and other faculty and staff as well as seniors who have spent their entire academic career at Skaggs Center schools, attended the celebration of the opening of the time capsule that was buried 25 years ago.

DRAPER — The celebrations of the Skaggs Catholic Center’s 25th anniversary, which began with a community Mass and dinner on Sept. 26, continued Dec. 4 with the opening of a time capsule that was buried when the center opened in 1999.

The Skaggs Catholic Center is home to Saint John the Baptist Elementary and Middle schools, Juan Diego Catholic High School and Guardian Angel Daycare.

Students who attended kindergarten through 12th grade at the center joined Juan Diego CHS Principal Dr. Galey Colosimo and other faculty and school members at the opening of the time capsule.

As high school seniors who have been at the school since the beginning of their student life pulled out a stone to retrieve a silver box that contained different items from the time that the Skaggs Catholic Center was built, Colosimo recalled some memories of that time.

“Back then we had the first Apple computers, and they were big and very colorful,” he said.

“Back then there was also a belief that once the year 2000 started, the world was going to end,” he added, explaining that some people thought that computer systems were not going to be able to register the double zero.  “The belief was that  nothing was going to work and the world was going to end. … But guess what? Nothing happened.”

After the time capsule was opened, its contents were displayed. Among them were pictures of the opening of the center; a variety of newspaper articles, including several from the Intermountain Catholic; holy medals, pins, school magnets and uncirculated coin sets.

Skaggs Center officials intend to begin a tradition of having a new time capsule opened every 25 years, Colosimo said. Those attending the ceremony were invited to suggest the items that the next time capsule should contain.

Asked what he expected for the facility’s next 25 years, Colosimo said, “I hope that the Skaggs Center will continue to be a beacon of education in our diocese and in Utah.”

The time-capsule celebration helped Carrie Lentz, advancement director of the Skaggs Catholic Center, “see how far the center has come, all the quality education that it provides, the diversity that we have,” she said.

Lentz, who has been at the center for six years, added that she hopes “this will continue growing and making the difference in the education of many. The items [in the capsule] surely provide a glimpse into the hopes and dreams of the past, and are a way to preserve and inspire our present and our future.”