Children at the James R. Jordan Boys & Girls Club on the Near West Side gathered this week to open time capsules created by students living through the COVID-19 pandemic — and then they created their own memory boxes, set to be opened in 2031.
In 2021, The Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago partnered with Living Record, previously known as Once Upon Our Time Capsule, to work with students to document what they experienced through the time of lockdowns, quarantines and hybrid learning and collect them in time capsules the kids embellished themselves.
This year, a new crop of students opened those capsules, and were encouraged to reflect on what previous Club kids went through during the pandemic.
Angel Rivera, vice president of youth development at the Club, said the event Tuesday in the Club's gymnasium was meant to be a moment of “social emotional learning.”
“To kind of reflect on this past year — what was important to this year? — and trying to memorialize some of those things, we always feel is a worthwhile practice to have with our kids,” Rivera said.
While the children taking part Tuesday ranged from kindergarteners to high schoolers, most were too young to remember living through the height of the pandemic and had few personal experiences to attach to the uncovered boxes filled with gloves and masks.
But Mekhi, 17, a high school senior who was in sixth grade when lockdown began, recalls creating his own capsule.
“I do remember, like, one day throughout the summer they were like making me write down, 'Who's your favorite artist? What's your favorite color? How are you feeling today?' Things like that,” he said.
Mekhi said the pandemic felt like "torture," and hindered his his academic aspirations .
“It was kind of hard, like it was nobody motivating me and pushing me,” he said
But now that he's earned a full-ride scholarship to play Division III basketball for Knox College, Mekhi was “amazed” to look back at life five years ago.
Brooklynn, 13, in third grade when the pandemic began, said she had forgotten much of her experience in quarantine but remembers not being able to see her friends.
"Now reliving it, I guess it's happier now, because back then it was more sad. Now it's more exciting," she said.
Several tables were set up in the gymnasium for the event. At one, Brooklynn and the other children could look through the old time capsules. At four other tables, they could create new memory pieces to place in capsules to open in 2031.
At one table, kids cut up pieces of patterned cloth and glued them onto felt stick figures to demonstrate the fashion trends of 2026. At another table dedicated to remembering hit songs of the year, students drew large SpongeBob characters, referencing the line “SpongeBob, big guy pants, okay” in the popular song “Big Guy” by Ice Spice.
Others wrote letters to future Club kids. “Stay focused. Be great. Do great things. Be you!” one letter read.
Stacey Gillett, co-founder and executive director of Living Record, said the exercise is meant to be a moment of reflection.
“It's an opportunity to really stop and think about who am I today, where have I come from, where am I at today, what do I want in the future for myself, for my community, for the world,” Gillett said. “And when you do it in community with others, it's a really powerful way to build understanding, to share stories, to build connection.”
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