Second grade teacher Megan Spiller carries a time capsule Thursday through the halls of East Auburn Community School in Auburn. Spiller’s students last school year filled the capsule with items. The capsule was buried Thursday underneath the school’s new playground. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Each student from Megan Spiller’s 2023-24 second grade class chose one item for the time capsule that was buried Thursday underneath the new playground at East Auburn Community School in Auburn. The metal box that was used for the capsule was owned by school Principal Michelle Gagne’s father, Robert Hanna. He stored important family documents in the box before he died in 1979. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Third grader Bryan Norton, 8, and second grade teacher Megan Spiller lower a time capsule into a dug hole Thursday at East Auburn Community School in Auburn. Students from Spiller’s class last school year, including Norton, buried the capsule underneath the new playground that is being installed this week. Twenty-three students placed items in the capsule and completed research papers about what life is like as a second grader in the year 2024. School Principal Michelle Gagne, top left, and Norton’s classmates watch as the time capsule is lowered. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Third grader Hunter Johnson, 9, helps cover a time capsule with dirt Thursday at East Auburn Community School in Auburn. Students started a time capsule project when they were second graders in Megan Spiller’s classroom and decided to bury the capsule underneath the new playground that is being installed this week. Twenty three students placed items in the capsule and completed research papers about what life is like as a second grader in the year 2024. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

East Auburn Community School Principal Michelle Gagne, middle, and her sister, Patrice Roy, right, help bury a time capsule Thursday at the school in Auburn. The metal box used for the capsule was owned by Gagne and Roy’s father, Robert Hanna. He stored important family documents in the box before he died in 1979. Megan Spiller, left, and her second grade class last year filled the capsule as part of a class project. “The kids were looking for the right box and we thought about our father’s box,” said Gagne. “This time capsule is special to this class and the box is special to us too.” Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Third grade students watch Thursday as Billy LaMontagne of Auburn Public Works covers a time capsule with dirt at East Auburn Community School in Auburn. The students started a time capsule project when they were second graders last school year in Megan Spiller’s classroom and buried the capsule underneath the new playground that is being installed this week. Twenty three students placed items in the capsule and completed research papers about what life is like as a second grader in the year 2024. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal