A harsh welcoming to America

Danette Goulet

CORONA DEL MAR - Lee Cowen had no idea what was going on.

The people around him were talking in a language he didn’t understand,

spraying him with water while making disgusted faces and taking his money

and belongings away from him.

His hands shook as he finally walked away from the passport agents, no

longer Lee Cowen, but Lee Conan.

It was much like the real Ellis Island.

“I couldn’t understand,” the 10-year-old said.

Fifth-grade students at Lincoln Elementary School thought their

simulation of Ellis Island was going to be a blast.

But then, they also thought they were prepared for everything.

They didn’t expect the lesson to be so true to life, with exceedingly

stern immigration workers who spoke in foreign tongues and seemed angry

that they weren’t being understood.

So students wandered around confused, upset and tired of waiting in

lines.

They were hungry and this fun adventure held pitfalls and worries they

hadn’t foreseen.

“I got detained two times for this baby, then she was sick and now I

lost one of my [dollar] bills,” said an exasperated Nicole Klein, who was

Jenifer Klein -- a Scottish immigrant -- for the day. “Oh, don’t tell me

I lost my hat.”

Klein, who struggled off in her crocheted purple shawl, was one of

many students who were in for a unexpected deportation for something that

had not been considered.

“We left out the fine details,” said Michael Reyes, one of the

fifth-grade teachers, who added that students with big suitcases were in

for a surprise.

The students’ characters for the day came from a four-day journal they

had been asked to write.

On the first day, they had to create who they were, where they were

coming from and why they were headed to America, said Michele Koziara, a

long-term substitute for one of the classes.

On day two, they were to talk about their journey to America and what

they endured, being as descriptive as possible.

Day three, they talked about what they were bringing with them and why

they chose those items. And finally, they had to describe how they were

feeling when they sailed into the harbor in New York and saw the Statue

of Liberty.

On the day they were to arrive at Ellis Island, students dressed their

part and brought with them a passport, two letters of recommendation,

five items and some currency to exchange.

But no matter what they brought, no one could be prepared enough for

the stern passport agents.

For those girls like Klein, who had no passport for their baby, they

were lucky if they got Dania Rodenhuis -- the corrupt agent who took a

few yen or pounds to look the other way.

So minus the excruciatingly long journey that preceded Ellis Island

and the very real excitement and fear of coming to a strange country,

students got a taste for what it might have been like.