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JOB DESCRIPTIONS FOR ELLIS ISLAND
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here to return to the main Ellis Island page
Please review the following
job descriptions and familiarize yourself with the responsibilities of
each part of the simulation. If only volunteering for part of the day,
look to see what applies to you by comparing the approximate times
listed on the flow chart enclosed. By design the descriptions are
succinct so as to minimize the information presented, yet offer enough
of a description to allow people to feel comfortable staffing a
station. Before the “immigrants” move to the next part of the
simulation teachers will be available for questions and given the number
of times we will be processing each “immigrant” there are countless
opportunities to perfect the simulation. Our hope is to recreate the
immigrant experience at Ellis Island at the turn of the century. Thank
you in advance for making your time available and contributing to the
education of our community. Breakfast and lunch are available in the
faculty dining room off of the cafeteria for all volunteers and staff
involved with the simulation.
ESCORTS: (In Homerooms and the Hallways) Students will go
from homeroom to their “ships.” Each classroom will become a ship that
will take students to America, a.k.a. the hallway by the guidance
office. While in this room, students will be, as a family of
immigrants, completing a letter to thank their host family. They also
will be completing their ship’s manifest. Once each family has written
their letter it will be addressed and placed in a box in the office.
All families must write this letter and complete the ship’s manifest
before any student leaves the room. You can assist the immigrants by
helping them follow the directions assigned by the teacher, proofreading
the letter, answering questions with regard to vocabulary, etc. Also,
please assist in completing the ship’s manifest per directions
provided. Every immigrant should have his/her visa, a minimum of five
pounds of baggage, and a lunch.
1) MANIFEST ROOM OFFICERS: (Outside of Auditorium) In this portion
of the simulation immigrants will be checked for four items: five pounds
of baggage, a visa, a three dollar processing fee per family member, and
their lunch. Immigrants will first have their baggage weighed and if
they meet the minimum requirement they will proceed. If they fail they
must return to their locker for more baggage and then get in line once
again. Every immigrant will then show his or her photograph in the visa
to be certain it is his or hers. Finally, each lunch will be
inspected. Any food not typical for turn of the century will be
confiscated. In short this eliminates all processed foods and allows
for fruits, cheese, breads, salami/pepperoni/ etc. and sandwiches of any
type. Please place the unacceptable food in a box provided. Food may
not be wrapped in aluminum foil, saran wrap, plastic bags, etc.; wax
paper will be available to rewrap any items in question. Each family’s
food—after passing inspection—then will be placed in a container and
will be labeled with the family’s name. All four inspections will
follow with a stamp on the “Official Visa” page of their visa.
2) AUDITORIUM ATTENDANTS: (Inside the Auditorium) As immigrants
enter the auditorium they are to sit with their “families.” The purpose
of this activity is to view actors as they present vignettes based on
the various ethnicities present at Ellis Island at the turn of the
century. Prior to the performance, as the immigrants are being
processed, instructions in foreign language will be given so that the
feeling of being in a foreign land will be present.
3) REGISTRY ROOM OFFICERS: (Inside the Auxiliary Gymnasium) Once
the actors have finished, the immigrants will exit the auditorium on the
office side and enter the auxiliary gymnasium. At this point of the
simulation immigrants will have officially entered Ellis Island’s
Registry Room where an officer will recheck the ship’s manifest for
accuracy so that every immigrant’s visa matches the manifest. On the
pages entitled “Registry Room” the information listed will correspond
with the ship’s manifest. If any discrepancies exist or an immigrant has
answered “Yes” to being a contracted laborer, in prison or in an
almshouse, or is a polygamist, he/she with his/her family has each
visa stamped “Legal Inquiry Needed---Processed” and is escorted to
the Legal Inquiry room. If both Registry Room pages are accurate and
complete and the family’s information matches the ship’s manifest, the
family waits in the Registry Room until the rest of the ship’s
passengers have been processed. If a family is sent to Legal Inquiry,
the entire family has to have the Registry Room pages rechecked upon
their return to the Registry Room, a.k.a., the auxiliary gym.
3a. LEGAL INQUIRY: (Guidance Conference Room)
If an immigrant’s visa is stamped with “Legal Inquiry Needed---
Processed” he/she is taken by an Immigration Officer to the guidance
conference room with his/her family. This portion of the simulation is
run like a mock trial. The immigrant is questioned by a panel of judges
who attempt to learn if this person is a political threat (a communist,
socialist, anarchist, union organizer) or a moral threat (a criminal,
charity case, polygamist). If he/she is determined not to be a threat
to society, as all our immigrants will be, the family is permitted to
return to the Registry Room. The family stays together so that they may
testify on the individual’s behalf as an upstanding, hard working, moral
individual. Leading questions may need to be asked by the judges.
Family members who feared that their loved ones might be deported often
made heartfelt pleas. In the visa of the individual detained please
write on the page entitled “Legal Inquiry Review Board” your reasons for
accepting this immigrant and sign in the box provided. An
Immigration Officer then will escort the family back to the simulation.
4) TESTING SITES: (Gymnasium) This portion of the simulation has
five stations: medical, genealogical, literacy, mental acuity, and a
“loved one letter.” This portion of the simulation is a recreation of
actual questions asked by immigration officials and medical examiners at
Ellis Island. It does not matter what order the immigrants
proceed through the testing sites. What is needed is that the
immigrant gets all five stamps in his/her visa. Please stamp
and sign in the box provided once the immigrant has passed the test.
The tests are fairly simple to administer and foreign language students
will take their literacy test in the language studied in school. The
Father’s/Mother’s Genealogy page is without a box; please stamp this
section of the visa in the lower right hand corner. The medical
station has the right to quarantine any immigrant;
however, you must stamp his/her visa on the last page and note the
reason and the time in/time out. The literacy and mental
acuity stations have the right to send an immigrant to the
detention room; again please note the reason and the time in/time
out. When an immigrant needs to be detained or quarantined, an
Immigration Officer will escort him/her to room #26. The Immigration
Officer delivering the new immigrant will bring those immigrants who
have served their detention or quarantine back to the simulation.
Immigrants are not permitted to leave or reenter the simulation on their
own.
5) LUNCH: (Cafeteria) Once all members of the family have completed
all testing sites they are to seat themselves and wait to be dismissed
to lunch. While at lunch immigrants will sit with their families and
share what they have to eat. Carton beverages and/or bottled water will
be available for purchase; the vending machines are not to be used.
For all volunteers and staff involved with the simulation, there is a
complimentary lunch served in the faculty dining room. The chorus and
band will provide musical selections from the time period. Immigrants
will be dismissed via the public address system at the end of lunch and
will proceed to the auditorium.
6) CULMINATING ACTIVITY: (Auditorium) At this time immigrants will
view a video entitled “Island of Hope, Island of Fear.” This video is
currently showing at Ellis Island and offers a historically accurate
view of the role that immigration has had and continues to have upon
America. This will be followed by a small awards ceremony and then
immigrants will take the Naturalization Oath of Allegiance to the United
States and “officially” become citizens. The immigrants will walk on to
the stage, in single file leaving their seats row by row, and their visa
will be embossed. They will exit the stage on the side closest to the
guidance office and enter the auxiliary gym.
7) DEPARTING ACTIVITY: (Auxiliary Gym) Immigrants will enter the
auxiliary gym from the guidance office hall and take this opportunity to
autograph their visas. Students will be dismissed at 2:25 p.m. so that
they may go to their lockers.
TO VOLUNTEER FOR THE ELLIS
ISLAND SIMULATION: If you would like to assist with the
simulation, please download this parent/guardian form and indicate your
preference by marking the appropriate line. If interested, please
leave your telephone number and/or call so that we may contact you.
Download
the parent/guardian sign-up sheet
(you will need Adobe
Acrobat)
Click
here to return to the main Ellis Island page
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