Eighth Graders Visit Ellis Island

One of the most unique things about living in the Greater New York City area is that you don’t need to travel too far outside of your front door to come face-to-face with history.

On Monday, Nov. 3, eighth grade students took advantage of this as they loaded onto the bus—and a ferry—for a trip to Ellis Island that brought to life the lessons that the youngsters have been learning about the immigrant experience in America around the dawn of the 20th century. 

From 1892 to 1954, Ellis Island—located in New York Harbor— served as the country’s main hub for immigration processing, giving it a prominent position on the timeline of our nation’s growth. 

Social Studies teachers Kathleen Gallaher and Michael Welsh explained that this trip was an important one for the students, as it helped to give them a fresh perspective on the work they are currently doing in the classroom.

“Currently we are working on the later part of the 19th century, exploring urbanization and industrialization and how it all comes together,” said Gallaher. “Ellis Island is one piece of this time period that we go over in class, and the students were able to see it with their own eyes, as opposed to just hearing about it in books.”

“A big part of the unit deals with the immigrant experience, from the types of jobs they got, to their living experiences, and of course the experience of entering the country,” added Welsh. “So I think the trip really filled in nicely, and the kids had a chance—to some extent—to replicate that experience.”

Prior to Monday’s trip, the students learned about the role that Ellis Island played in the transformation of the United States, 

“We offer a web class through the Ellis Island Museum, so they had that understanding of what happened once you stepped onto the island and went through the medical processes,” said Gallaher. “And we’ve also read a lot of the Lewis Hine and Jacob Riis primary sources about the immigrant experience."

“The students also do an activity on ‘The New Colossus,’ the Emma Lazarus poem that is on the base of the Statue of Liberty, which ties in with our ELA curriculum as well,” added Welsh.

Both Gallaher and Welsh say that being able to bring history to life presents a unique opportunity for these students, and they hope that the recent sojourn to Ellis Island will allow them to process more deeply how the stories from over 100 years ago helped to shape the world we live in today.

“For me, watching them have fun on the ferry, seeing the Statue of Liberty, then seeing the island; I don’t think many have seen both of those together,” said Gallaher. “Especially for those seeing it for the first time, I think that was a very cool experience.”