As part of their social studies curriculum, fifth-grade students at W.S. Mount Elementary School stepped back in time when they participated in an immigration simulation.

Leading up to the program, the students researched a family member who had immigrated to the United States. During the simulation, the students dressed and acted as that individual.  

Once inside the cafeteria, or “Ellis Island,” they began the process of becoming an immigrant. Parent and staff volunteers were on hand in the school’s mini-gym monitoring the different immigration stations, which checked the immigrants’ background, vocation, character and health, and ultimately cleared them for citizenship. Once accepted as citizens, the students were asked to review a copy of the federal constitution, were given a commemorative U.S. citizen identification card stamped with their fingerprints, and were asked to recite the Loyalty Oath. 

At the conclusion of the program, the fifth-graders gathered in the auditorium to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and the Loyalty Oath in unison.