Grover Cleveland Middle School Students Live 'American Dream'

Sixth graders at Grover Cleveland Middle School transformed into immigrants from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Great Britain and many other countries last month for the seventh annual Immigration Day.

Some students dressed up as their ancestors, while others created a fictional immigrant, to experience the process of immigration at the turn of the 20th century.

“Immigrants” were greeted by the Statue of Liberty, processed and treated to an international feast consisting of eggplant parmesan, kugel, Irish soda bread, shepherd’s pie, and other dishes created by Caldwell-West Caldwell middle school parents.

Immigration Day started more than eight years ago in teacher Mike Teshkoyan’s class and became a grade-wide tradition in 2007. The activity complements the “Industry Changes the Country” social studies unit, which takes students from the rise of big business through the Great Migration.

While some students get to experience “deportation,” all are welcome to be sworn-in as United States citizens, sign the Oath of Loyalty and begin their pursuit of the American Dream.