There were 20 people from 14 different countries, but there was only one Naturalization Oath of Allegiance to the United States when Marlton Elementary School played host to a naturalization ceremony on June 9.
The school’s fourth graders have been learning about citizenship as part of their social studies curriculum for about a month, and the June 9 ceremony was the culmination of their studies.
The event took place in the school’s gym and included the fourth graders singing “This is my Country” to the new citizens followed by a colors presentation from the Cherokee High School Honor Guard.
The fourth graders and audience then watched with the immigrants as a video of President Barack Obama welcoming new citizens to the country played, followed by a video montage of patriotic pictures set to the song “God Bless the USA”
Afterward, the new citizens individually went to the front the gym to receive their certificates and a miniature U.S. flag.
Fourth-grade teacher Laura Nicholls said the ceremony became an annual part of the immigration lessons three years ago when a student’s father, who works as a supervisory immigration services officer, suggested the idea.
“To bring everything together and bring it to life right in front of the children, I think makes for a very meaningful learning experience, something they won’t forget,” Nicholls said. “It’s a once in a lifetime chance.”
Fourth grader Isabella Malatino, whose father sang the National Anthem at the ceremony, said it was a really great experience to see all the immigrants take the oath and officially become citizens.
She said it made even more of an impact on her after having spent so much time learning how difficult it is for people from other countries to obtain United States citizenship.
“It’s really hard to just go there,” Malatino said. “You can’t just go there without anything and then go, they wouldn’t let you in. You have to either have a job there or someone there to invite you. It’s not that easy.”
Having passed a citizenship test along with his classmates as part of their studies, fourth grader Christian Schad said he too was surprised when he learned the difficulties involved with becoming a citizen.
“I did not know there was so much work involved with becoming a citizen,” Schad said. “I didn’t know there were all those tests and there was so much to becoming a citizen. I never knew that.”
Malatino and Schad said their favorite part of learning about citizenship was an activity where the students had to bring what few pictures of their families they would be able to take if they were immigrating to a new country and different foods they might bring to eat on the journey.
“I would say 95 percent of them brought in actual photos of people in their family who immigrated or documents of some sort for their families’ immigration history,” Nicholls said. “I think that made it very real to them when they realized that they are a part of this and they, in their families’ history, have immigrated.”
MES Principal Julio Feldman, who himself became a naturalized citizen after he emigrated from Cuba more than 40 years ago, said having the ceremony inside a school enforced the idea that new citizens were now more than ever a part of the community.
He said it was also a great way to finish the students’ lessons on immigration.
“I think it’s wonderful,” Feldman said. “I went through a ceremony like this over 42 years ago when I became a U.S. citizen. I think it’s a wonderful experience for children to witness the ceremony after studying about immigration. Today, they were able to witness 20 individuals become citizens of this country.”
