MDE's Dia de los Muertos: A Collaboration

To celebrate Mexico’s Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, an altar with many ofrendas was erected in the library at Memorial Drive Elementary to welcome loved ones home.

The calaveras shaked, rattled and rolled as they celebrated the biggest event of the graveyard’s social calendar. A collaborative effort between the Art teacher, Spanish teacher and the Librarian  brought this joyful celebration, with its unusual traditions to life.

In  art classes, Mrs. Guelzow, worked with the third graders making sugar skulls with chalk and glue.
The fourth graders fashioned skeleton marionettes, while the fifth graders crafted sugar skulls on papel picado. Mrs. Medina worked with the second through fifth graders in their respective Spanish classes making angelitos.

Each colorful paper angel had a handwritten note, in loving remembrance, to honor those who have passed.

Ms. Gabriel traced the origins of Dia de los Muertos from its conception, when the Aztec civilization reigned supreme, then followed it through European conquests to the current, often secular, celebrations.