Boston Middle School got a taste of ethnic culture on Friday November 2. This date is significant because it’s the Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos). It is a day that is celebrated in Mexico, and parts of Central and South America. The holiday is meant to be positive. It is a day where the living celebrate the lives of loved ones who are no longer with them.
The students in Miss Channie Jones’s art class got into the spirit of the day, creating masks that they decorated themselves, watching a documentary on the Day of the Dead, getting their faces painted by Miss Jones, and bringing in objects that represented a loved one that has passed on. The items ranged from necklaces to candles, shirts to pictures, and flowers to sports memorabilia.The objects that the students brought in were displayed at an altar that was set up on one side of the classroom to pay homage to their family and friends that have passed on.
Here’s an interesting fact: People go to the graves of their loved ones and light candles which they display around the graves, then they make trails leading back to their houses where the altars (or ofredas in Spanish) are set up. It is believed that the spirits of the dead come back to visit and the candles help to light their way home.
“My 7th grade students have been working on a unit that is geared toward celebrating life and honoring their past loved ones,” Miss Jones said. “Today, November 2nd, is traditionally celebrated all over the world as All Saints Day or Día de los Muertos. and they are celebrating with their classmates as well as bringing the spirit of life and death into the school. i think the students have really enjoyed it.”
They they did. While Miss Jones spoke, the kids busily colored their masks using designs that each one had created him or herself.
At the end of the class period, the students observed a moment of silence to pay their respects, then they feasted on cupcakes, cookies, and juice.
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