McKitrick Elementary students experience life as Ellis Island immigrants during class project 

LUTZ, Fla. - More than 200 second-grade students and 75 volunteers transformed themselves and their school to look like Ellis Island circa 1900 this week. Throughout the exercise, students learned what it was like to be an immigrant during that time. 

At the start of their day, they packed their belongings and got onto a pretend ship headed to America. After the children arrived in a make-believe New York City, they were separated from their simulated families and had to go through evaluations. Then they applied for citizenship.

The volunteers even spoke to the students in a different language so they could experience coming to a new country and not understanding what was being said.

"We wanted to recreate something that was real,” explained Liisa DiTarando with McKitrick Elementary. “We didn't want to sugarcoat history." 

Every year the elementary school reenacts the important time in history. It's the school's way of making topics like immigration and citizenship more engaging for the students.

DiTarando said the exercise teaches students perseverance by having them solve their own problems.

“There's so much problem solving that happens and critical thinking skills that are used when they are experiencing something like this,” she explained.

Although this might seem like a stressful experience to some, teachers said the students always say this is one of their favorite learning activities.