In her first year at Niagara Academy, Spanish teacher Kim Dumond has introduced a new holiday to the students: The Day of the Dead.
Traditionally celebrated on Nov. 1 and Nov. 2, the holiday has family and friends gathering to pay respects and remember those who have died. Traditions for honoring the dead involve the use of calaveras (skulls), homemade altars and marigolds. Celebrants usually offer favorite foods, beverages or gifts for the deceased. Sometimes people set up small altars in their home as well. “They set them up year-round for their loved ones,” Dumond said, “but on the Day of the Dead they usually visit the cemetery and cover the whole plot with flowers.”
Spanish classes at Niagara Academy set up an altar in the hallway outside their classroom decorated with tributes to their deceased loved ones as well as skulls and flowers.
One of Dumond’s students, Joe, honored his uncle who was a musician by bringing in a photo of his uncle and some offerings. “I brought in drumsticks because he was a drummer, he was a rapper, so you can see his studio in the background of the photo and I brought in Reese’s because he loved candy,” Joe said.
Fellow student Paige said she learned that marigolds are used because of their strong scent, relaying, “They believe that brings the spirits back.”
Joe and Paige had fun embracing their Spanish names, Jose and Maria, as part of the celebration.
Dumond and her students made the masks and skulls they used for the altar. They also baked pan de muerto, bread of the dead, to share with their schoolmates and staff.
Pan de muerto is a sweetened, soft bread shaped like a bun, bearing a skull and teardrop symbol on top, and dipped in a thick Mexican hot chocolate before it’s eaten, according to Dumond.
On the second day the class capped their celebration with tamales made from scratch.
“For my students I try to incorporate the culture with the language and the life skills, and now they know how to use mixers,” Dumond said.
The overall student body seemed to appreciate the extra effort put in by the Spanish classes, according to Dumond.
“Every day we made announcements at the beginning of the day talking about the holiday. I think it is really great they wanted to share what they were learning with the school,” she said. “I was so impressed that no one tampered with (the altar). I felt that the students really loved this particular lesson and wanted to participate by sharing special memories and placing them on the altar. Some of them even wrote letters or poems to their loved one or drew pictures. It was really special for many of them.”