Fourth graders take thrilling trip to Ellis Island after immigration simulation

By Emilia Privat, Charlie Pedorella and Charlotte Howard, Staff Reporters

ELLIS ISLAND — The fourth graders had an exciting adventure at Ellis Island.

During the field trip, they took a ferry to reach the island. It was a bumpy ride, but also very thrilling. Although they didn’t stop at Liberty Island, they still had a great view of the Statue of Liberty and got to take many pictures.

Once they arrived at Ellis Island, the fourth graders explored the museum with their parents. Some of the exhibits they visted were the suitcases, furniture and leftover possessions of immigrants as well as a display on building and expanding Ellis Island.

Lily Childs (4C) said she liked “learning history.”

“I thought that it was cool to see where the immigrants came through and what it was like back then,” said Morgan McLean (4C).

Before the classes went on the trip, they had an immigration simulation at Colonial. The students had to dress up as immigrants and went through a trip like the one that real immigrants took.

“Most importantly, the fourth graders got to see the difference between the immigration simulation and the real thing at Ellis Island,” said Mr. Ron Martucci, a fourth grade teacher.

When everyone first came into the museum, the saw suit cases piled up. The suitcases were from immigrants who traveled to America. Each family was allowed one sack per family. Can you imagine what you would bring to America? Each kid or grown up could only bring five belongings from their home.

“I thought it was a fun and educational trip,” said Mrs. Heidi Carey, mother of Fa (4C). “I loved being with my son, his friends and fun parents.”

The students on the trip also enjoyed it. Here are some of their views:

• Bridget Petti (4-C) liked ”the souvenir store.”
• Justin Brown (4-M): “The trip to Ellis Island was awesome, and I thought it was the best trip ever.”
• Fa Carey (4C): “My favorite part of the trip was seeing the registration room, and the  boat ride and seeing the sites. My favorite thing I bought there was probably the lemonade because it was such a hot day.”
• Matt Meyer (4C): “My favorite part of the trip was probably seeing the immigrants’ graffiti and also seeing the Statue of Liberty. My favorite thing I bought was mints.”

The fourth grade learned a lot from this trip about immigrants and how life was difficult for them. Maybe you will want to go there to see what they learned?

This story also appears on the Colonial Times website.