Immigrant Immersion in New York

As part of a unit of study on immigration, GDS Lower School faculty created an experiential learning opportunity for their third grade students that extended beyond the classroom to New York City. Partnering with New York non-profit, the Living City Project who offers city-based experiences for young adults and teachers, they worked to create an immersion experience for the students in which they could experience what it would be like to be an immigrant entering New York in 1907.

The idea began in the spring of 2025, when third grade teachers worked with the Living City Project to deepen their understanding of immigration through their own immersion experience in order to better inform their curriculum. While it started as professional learning, the team ultimately realized it was an experience that could not be replicated in the classroom; students needed to take part in the experience themselves.

Working further with the Living City Project and GDS Lower School instructional coach Sarah Tiamiyu, the faculty planned both the trip and an on-campus simulation. This preparation day turned the school building into an interactive space, using multiple floors to help students practice the roles, scenarios, and historical context they would encounter in New York.

On the day of the trip, students “set sail” for the New World by coach bus. They arrived at Liberty Island and Ellis Island, two sites closely tied to the history of immigration in the United States. Liberty Island included an array of student-centered activities that engaged students with the museum and the Statue. 

At Ellis Island, students participated in an “encountering the building” exercise, observing how the architecture expressed ideas about order, authority, and government power. In and around the Registry Room, they rotated through a series of stations that simulated the immigrant inspection process.

With the help of facilitators acting as Immigrant Aid Society officers, the educators created simulated inspection stations at which the students affirmed their right to enter the US, grappling with the inspectors' questions about health, poverty, criminality and radicalism.

The day gave students the chance to better understand immigration by connecting historical facts directly with personal experience. It also supported the development of empathy, strengthened their confidence in speaking and presenting, and provided a learning experience that helped them connect more deeply with history.

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