Students learn about Ellis Island




WHOLE NEW WORLD-White Oak Elementary School third-grade student Jeremy Elder, 8, inspects his Ellis Island passport. Jeremy is taking part in a recreation of immigrants arriving at Ellis Island in an annual event at the school. Costumed parents and students played their ancestors for the day, tracing their routes to America. JANN HENDRY Acorn Newspapers

WHOLE NEW WORLD-White Oak Elementary School third-grade student Jeremy Elder, 8, inspects his Ellis Island passport. Jeremy is taking part in a recreation of immigrants arriving at Ellis Island in an annual event at the school. Costumed parents and students played their ancestors for the day, tracing their routes to America. JANN HENDRY Acorn Newspapers


A civics lesson became a personal quest for third grade students at White Oak Elementary School in Westlake Village when they reenacted the lives of their ancestors entering America through Ellis Island more than 100 years ago.

As their ancestors before them, the children landed in America via the Lusitania, albeit a painted wood version large enough to accommodate one third-grade class at a time.

As the children stepped off the boat dressed in authentic garb from their ancestral countries and carrying either vintage suitcases or simple sacks, they were greeted by the Statue of Liberty, portrayed by Kelly Macleod.

The famous poem at the base of the Statue of Liberty was recited by Macleod for each of the five third-grade classes:

Give me your tired, your poor/

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free/

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore/

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:

I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

The “golden door” of the school auditorium opened into a re-creation of Ellis Island at New York Harbor, complete with 12 stations, starting with a detention center that held immigrants for petty crimes.

Medical examiners inspected new arrivals at the inspection station. American hopefuls were then sent to a second medical area where they were either cleared to continue their journey or placed in quarantine if diseased.

“I think (the program) is the most memorable in a student’s education,” said Heather Holden, one of the six thirdgrade teachers at the school. “It’s like they digest it.”

Jeremy Elder portrayed his great-great uncle Nikolai Gulseth, who upon entry into the U.S. was forced to change his name to Nicolas Gold. In character, Jeremy told his story of leaving Norway for a better life in America.

“The only bad part was the officers took all of my money,” Jeremy said, who also said he (Gulseth/Gold) served in World War I and settled in Minneapolis, Minn.

Noah Levine played Joseph Brisgall, his Russian ancestor who was turned away because “he had a sore on his head and he had pink-eye.” He said his favorite part of the program was seeing the Statue of Liberty.

Third-grade teacher Lorna Maxwell said the nine-year program once received an “innovation in education” award from the Las Virgenes Unified School District. She added the project integrates several areas of the curriculum including reading, writing, social studies and math.

Other stations included a registry area where passports were stamped, a post office where immigrants bought stamps to send letters to friends or relatives they either left behind or planned to meet and a baggage area.

To pass the time while waiting for clearance, the parlor game station offered simple distractions from chess and checkers to dominos, marbles and cards.

“There’s a little bit of swindling going on here,” said parent volunteer Dale Biase.

Passports were stamped for entry at the registry station and at the photo station, immigrants received a certificate of U.S. citizenship.

All immigrants concluded their journey at the “Staircase of Separation,” a clearance area where they recited a citizenship oath with White Oak Principal Abbe Irshay and Susan McSweeney, the mayor of Westlake Village. Within 90 minutes, the students purchased tickets at the ferry and train station to start their new lives in America.

Dep. Dave Bates, the STAR (Success Through Awareness and Resistance) program coordinator with the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station, added more realism to the program this year. He lent a wooden jail to the school which was used as the detention center for the first time since the program was initiated nine years ago.

After researching their genealogy for two months and delving into the lives of their ancestors, some of the children took the reenactment to heart and actually cried as they attempted to talk their way out of being punished at the detention center. Immigrants were chastised for such crimes as picking pockets, lying on their passport, being under suspicion for spying or just being insubordinate and not accepting their new names.

Officials on the job also played their parts authentically. “If they have too much money, we lighten their load a little,” said Teena Wong, a parent volunteer who portrayed a corrupt guard.

Maxwell noted that one student who recently came to the U.S. from Zimbabwe portrayed himself.

At the Staircase of Separation, 11 immigrants had either ferry or train tickets in hand, waiting to start their new lives in America. They represented Italy, India, China, Russia, Greece, Spain, England, Romania and Korea.

For Irshay, who joined the White Oak staff this year, the experience was powerful. She was awed by the integration of so many subject areas. “It’s a thematic program that covers many areas of the curriculum,” she said.

The program was a true community effort, said Irshay. About 80 volunteers worked together to create a memorable day for the children, including the third grade teachers at the school- Ann Bornhoeft, Heather Holden, Lorna Maxwell, Sylvia Leong, Trudy Shapiro and Beth Barber.

Parents Amy Brink, Jennifer Elder and Janine Goldberg chaired the event.

“It’s not like reading something out of a book,” Holden said. “They walk in someone else’s shoes.”

After the students took their citizen’s oaths and sang “God Bless the U.S.A.,” they were welcomed to America with Coney Island hot dogs.

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