Immigrant’s stories take center stage

  • Jennifer Aaby<br>Enterprise writer
  • Monday, March 3, 2008 9:58am

Students in Connie Gagnon’s fifth-grade class at Mill Creek Elementary aren’t just reading books and writing reports about immigration and Ellis Island – they’re becoming the people they’ve learned so much about.

After having written the script and some of the music, the students are taking their musical to the Mill Creek Elementary stage.

“Coming to America” will be performed Nov. 22 as the culmination of a unit on immigration.

Three of Mill Creek’s fifth-grade classes participated in an immigration simulation, which allowed each child to experience what it’s like to arrive at Ellis Island, just as millions of immigrants did between 1892 and 1954.

The students then wrote letters on behalf of the characters they portrayed. These letters created the foundation of the musical’s script.

This is not the first time Gagnon’s students have taken an active approach to learning. Gagnon said her class typically does four or five simulations and two or three musicals per year.

“Whenever they can immerse themselves in the role … it means more to them,” Gagnon said.

During the simulation, each student was given a card that explained more about the person they would portray: age, ethnicity, family, education and health status.

Kaitlin Taylor, 10, took on the role of a 19-year-old Swedish woman, and Morgan Jones, 10, was a 21-year-old mother with medical ailments.

The experience helped them better understand the difficulties immigrants faced upon arriving at Ellis Island, they said.

Each student had to stop at many stations to make sure they passed the requirements to stay in the United States – and some students didn’t make it because of health or other reasons.

From that experience, the students wrote reflective letters from the viewpoints of their immigrant characters, Gagnon said.

Although Taylor’s character safely made it to the United States during the simulation, her character in the musical will not be so lucky.

After traveling all the way to the United States, she doesn’t make it through the checkpoints at Ellis Island and must let her sons stay as she reboards the ship back to her homeland.

Each student in the class has a line in the play, and the students’ messages and stories are broken up by songs – some of which were written by the students themselves.

They began learning the music in October and will continue to practice their lines throughout November. This leads up to the school performance and finally the production open to the public Nov. 22.

Christopher Steckler, 11, said he enjoys performing. Steckler sings a solo during the musical.

“Just for a little while you can twist your life around,” Steckler said.

Gagnon said this provides an opportunity for different types of learners to succeed. A student who might not enjoy writing could feel more comfortable in a performance role, she said.

The students said they are enjoying the experience and learning from it at the same time.

“While you’re doing it, you’re having fun but you’re also learning what it’s like to be them,” Jones said.

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