Time marches on. Time heals all wounds. Time stands still for no one.

Recently, the Manheim Township School District embarked on an intriguing project that explores this fleeting notion of time. The school district is creating a time capsule that commemorates this year's 175th anniversary of its founding and also looks ahead to its upcoming bicentennial.

"In 2048, Manheim Township will be going strong, just based on our current trajectory," said ShaiQuana Mitchell, the director of communications and marketing for the Manheim Township School District. "Maybe there'll be another school. We have a lot of amazing opportunities with technology. I think there's going to be innovative aspects of education coming down the pipeline."

"I think those who open the time capsule will appreciate the past and see how Manheim Township has grown," continued Mitchell. "I think they're going to know we're a school community where everyone belongs. Hopefully, they'll be able to see themselves in the items, that they're going to be able to relate to them. Hopefully, the school district is going to be even better."

Funded by a $2,000 grant from the Manheim Township Education Foundation, the time capsule project is Mitchell's idea, one inspired by Christopher Burrowes, a teacher at the school district's Schaeffer Elementary School. Each of Manheim Township's nine schools places culturally and historically significant items into the time capsule - things like yearbooks, recordings of school songs, commemorative T-shirts and even number-two pencils.

Each school presents its items for donation at school board meetings throughout the year, before they are locked away. The time capsule is scheduled to be opened in 2048, when Manheim Township celebrates its 200th year as a school district.

"I really wanted to offer an opportunity to preserve the history of our school district," said Mitchell. "I wanted something to show how each school is, including its traditions, and to recognize some of the great things going on in our school district. Every school is unique in what they put in. I did give them some ideas, and school principals took them to school leaders, and students were represented."

Until the time capsule is opened, it will be housed and displayed at the Manheim Township School District offices at 450A Candlewyck Road for the next 25 years.

"We want to be a welcoming community for everyone," said Mitchell. "I'm hoping our students will take that sense of belonging into their lives, their workplaces. Our mission is to nurture and challenge for success. We want to embrace the next chapter of educational excellence."

If students represent the future of our society, then Manheim Township has been preparing the future for 175 years.

"I definitely hope to still be here (when the time capsule is opened)," said Mitchell. "It would be awesome to say I was a part of it and explain it. It would be nice to be there to add a voice and some context and just see where life and education has gone. I can only imagine what education will be like 25 years from now."