By Jonathan Sager, Staff Writer
From Friday, October 31th, to Tuesday, November 4th, the River Hill media center was covered in ofrendas, altars meant to honor and celebrate the lives of dead loved ones and decorated by Señora Souidi’s Spanish classes to celebrate Día de los Muertos.
Día de los Muertos, also known as the Day of the Dead, is a holiday traditionally celebrated on the first two days of November. Primarily celebrated in Mexico, Día de los Muertos is often also observed in the U.S. and some Central American countries, such as Guatemala. A holiday dedicated to the remembrance of loved ones who have passed away, Día de los Muertos acts less as a somber moment and more as a celebration of their lives.
At River Hill, our Spanish students celebrated by crafting ofrendas, altars that are dedicated to a deceased relative or celebrity featuring marigold flowers, skulls and objects that represent the subject of the altar.
At River Hill, Sra. Souidi’s Spanish classes created ofrendas themed around deceased celebrities. The ofrendas featured pop culture icons Kobe Bryant, Princess Diana, Muhammad Ali and Ozzy Osbourne, and artists such as Frida Kahlo and Pablo Picasso. Sra. Souidi’s students employed various tactics to decorate the altars to represent both the traditions of dia de los muertos and the life and career of the subject of the altar. Sra. Souidi recounts, “We normally decorate… with orange flowers, candles, skulls to remember that we are celebrating people that are not here.” Additionally, Sra. Souidi adds, “we also have the picture of the person that we are celebrating and some personal items of that person.”
Once the ofrendas were set up in the media center, presentations began. The presentations related to the celebrities being honored or to celebrate the traditions of Día de los Muertos. Sra. Souid adds, “this year we had a little bit of everything, we had poems about Día de los Muertos and we had some music performers where they were playing ‘Remember Me’ from the movie “Coco,” a movie inspired by the traditions of Da de los Muertos. Some students even dressed up and painted their faces for the celebration.
The presentations also served as a kind of competition for the students. Members of the audience and other students had the opportunity to vote for their favorite ofrenda. Ultimately, Mrs. Souidi’s period 2 won with 31% of the vote.
Sra. Souidi hopes that through these Día de los Muertos activities the local community will learn more about “what we do in Mexico and South America and have a better idea of what Día de los Muertos is about.” Sra. Souidi recounts how she originally got the idea for the school ofrendas from her time living in Mexico, “In my school community we used to do a contest where every classroom used to decorate an altar… so I got the idea from my own experience back home and brought it to the school.”
The Día de los Muertos celebrations at River Hill provide valuable insight into other cultures and allow students to participate in new experiences. Sra. Souidi explains the meaning of Día de los Muertos by stating,”it’s not just celebrating Halloween, it’s celebrating the life and honor of our loved ones that are not with us anymore.”