Celebrating Dia de los Muertos
Bright pops of color and meaningful conversations about how we honor our ancestors sprang up throughout our campuses as students celebrated Día de los Muertos!
Spanish faculty and students built ofrendas in our libraries with offerings of papel picado, candles, oranges, squash, and marigolds, along with photos of the people and pets we’ve loved.
Our elementary Spanish students decorated their ofrenda with nichos (small, hand-made boxes constructed to display pictures or crafted scenarios), paper skull catrinas, kites, and milagros (charms used for healing and protection). 4th grade artists created sugar skulls from scratch in memory of loved ones, while 5th grade artists made ceramic skulls with intricately painted details.
TK students read Lifetimes: The Beautiful Way to Explain Death to Children by Bryan Mellonie, which discusses many beings and creatures, and how a lifetime is different for each one. This led to discussions of how things die and how things heal. They also read Uncle Monarch and the Day of the Dead by Judy Goldman, about a girl who loses her uncle and the connection between the dead and monarch butterflies.
And last week, all middle school students sang a beautiful round of “Oratorio de los Muertos” at our Community Meeting led by our Spanish Department. Feliz Día de los Muertos!
