Decked out in colorful costumes reflecting many countries of origin and carrying only their most precious belongings in suitcases, boxes, and bags along with their passports, Latins second graders simulated the Ellis Island experience on December 11.

For the third year, students in the second grade gained a better understanding of what the more than 12 million immigrants who passed through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1945 went through by reenacting some of their experiences.

As part of the project, the fifth floor gym of the Lower School was transformed into New York Harbor and the second floor became an immigration processing center. Parent volunteers, taking on the roles of officials, interviewed students, ordered them to fill out forms, checked them for lice and disease, and made the final decision about whether they would be allowed to enter the United States.

The Ellis Island simulation is the culmination of a unit on immigration in which the second graders watched documentaries, read books, welcomed special classroom visitors, and wrote their families immigration stories.

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