Daniel T. Connor
Superintendent
227 Main Street
Goshen, NY 10924
(845) 615-6720
District news
Middle School students participate in Ellis Island simulation project
November 28, 2011 – On November 3, students in Rebecca Haskel and Jonathan Redeker’s social studies classes at the C. J. Hooker Middle School participated in an immigration simulation project, where they imagined they were immigrants going through the various parts of Ellis Island.
During social studies classes prior to the simulation, each student was given the identity of an immigrant who came to the United States in 1910. Each identity included a name, country of origin, age, occupation, an amount of money, and a description of who paid for their passage. Students used this information to create a passport that they brought with them through the simulation.
The simulation began with students sitting and imagining they have completed a two week steamship journey across the Atlantic Ocean and have just arrived at Ellis Island. Once they arrived, the immigrants were led out of the gym by immigration officers (performed by their classmates). The immigrants then endured the "six second exam," where doctors watched the immigrants for any physical or mental issues such as shortness of breath or limping. The students then gathered information about the medical exams that were performed at Ellis Island.
Afterwards, the immigrants returned to the gym where they went through the legal exams. At this stage, each immigrant was asked questions and their answers were compared to the ship's manifest. Five students, acting as the legal examiners, asked several questions of the immigrants and stamped their passports if their answers matched the manifest they had been given. The immigrants then moved on to exchange their money and purchase their railroad tickets.
The students spent the remaining time gathering information about the journey across the ocean, the legal exams, detention, and being sent back. This included quotes describing the personal experiences the immigrants and immigration officers faced at Ellis Island.
The immigration officers and doctors were Jill Anderson, Amanda Beck, Connor McKernan, Nicholas Ortiz, Gabrielle Pantoni, Maxwell Pizarro, Sarah Pollard, Lauren Wapshare, and Umer Wattoo.
On November 7, the students traveled to Ellis Island
and the Statue of Liberty. They completed an assignment as they went
through the museum to gather additional information about the process
immigrants went through and the experiences and feelings that they had
while standing in the same place the immigrants did 100 years ago. They
were able to go to the Wall of Honor and look for names of their family
members or just their own last name and take a rubbing of it. Students
also traveled to Liberty Island and walked around the Statue of Liberty.