This field trip was a re-enactment of the immigrant experience entering the United States through Ellis Island. The trip started with a thoughtfully done video about the journey from Europe to New York and then learners were directed to an “inspection room” where they gently experienced having to submit their passport for approval. Learners had to wait to be “inspected” by a doctor and to answer questions to confirm their mental and physical health. Some learners were quarantined if their responses were questionable. Others were approved and sent to another waiting area to get final approval and had to communicate with an “immigration officer” to verify where they would be living and who would be picking them up from Ellis Island. Following this experiential learning, there was an opportunity to debrief collectively and share reflections. The people leading the experience stayed in character in order to help learners get a sense of what it would have felt like to immigrate through Ellis Island 100 years ago.

iLEAD Exploration learners attended a physical forces workshop at LEGOLAND where they learned about gravity. inertia, and friction. After the lesson, they got into teams where they designed their own LEGO car. Teams raced their cars in various heats and had the opportunity to go back and redesign their car to make it even better. Our iLEAD Exploration learners loved this hands-on approach to LEGO learning!