Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a holiday for reuniting the living with the dead. People create ofrendas, visit cemeteries, and celebrate with family, all to honor and remember the departed. This joyful celebration of life has come to Redwood High School to share its culture.
By: Madi Moya
Mrs. Rosalba Perez, a Spanish teacher here at Redwood, conformed the Dia de Las Muertos event, the culture and colors in the quad brought together staff, students, and family.
“It’s supposed to be a joyful celebration of life, to honor loved ones that have passed away. So on Friday, we get to come together as a Redwood community and share that tradition.” Perez says.
Perez honors her grandmother, uncles, and aunts for Dia de Las Muertos.
Mrs. Ambar Rodriguez, an ethnic studies teacher helped to put together this celebration of life.
Rodriguez says, “A lot of Mayan and Aztec empires celebrates this holiday where people think its Halloween when its actually just a celebration of your ancestor’s life and how your going to move forward and honor their legacy…then they changed Dia de Las Muertos to be the day after Halloween…so it was a combination now of Catholic beliefs mixed with Native American rituals.”
Rodriguez honors a controversial figure to some, but to her she should be considered a hero who had to make the best of her circumstances, la Malinche, who is known for contributing to the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire.
Redwood’s Day of the Dead event included, dancing, food, music, an ofreda contest, and an art contest.
Photo by G.Olson/Gigantea
Jude Sears, ’27, was the winner of the art contest, hes been doing art for longer than he could remember. His half watercolor, half acrylic painting showed the deep meaning of Dia de Las Muertos culture.
Many clubs and classes were out on the quad with their ofrendas for the contest, some honored celebrities or family members.
Photo by G. Olson/Gigantea
Interact, a community service club, was the club with the most amount of votes and won the contest with a $150 prize.
Interact’s secretary Sarah Hernandez, ’28, gave some insight on what Interact is all about.
“Our motto is service above self and to be united for good, we are basically a community who works hard as a family, who unites to work and make the community a better place for everyone else.” Hernandez says.
Photo by G.Olson/Gigantea
Andrea Gomez, ’27, is a member of a dance group at Redwood. Her group was celebrating Dia de Las Muertos by doing traditional Mexican dances, ballet folklórico.
Gomez says, “We have one [outfit] for the region of Jalisco and Mexico, which is a colorful style skirt, and then one for Vera Cruz, which is all white.”
Photo by G.Olson/Gigantea
There couldn’t be any dancing without music.
A band full of Redwood students called Losplebesdelvalle, played for Dia de Las Muertos.
One guitar player, Carlocesar Luna, ’26 says that the four of them play at many parties and events that need live music, when Perez asked if they would play for Dia de Las Muertos, they happily accepted.
Photo by G.Olson/Gigantea
“My culture is Day of the Dead, and every year sometimes me and my family celebrate those who passed away.” Luna says.
Luna honors his grandpa on Dia de Las Muertos.
Photo by G.Olson/Gigantea
Supia Valencia, was dressed as “La catrina”, an icon of Day of the Dead.
“‘La Catrina’ is a symbol of [Dia de Las muertos] traditions, she represents both life and death and the way we remember our loved ones with joy and respect.”
Navi Martinez, was dressed as a Catrina.
“originally La catrina was made to mock some cultures, we’ve found a way now to embrace our culture” Martinez says.
She says, “[Dia de Las Muertos] is about connecting and showing love and support for our family, and I feel like this is just another way to stay connected with one another”
Madison Moya
Tags: clubs & lifestyles, Day of the Dead, Dia de los Muertos, rangers, Redwood, redwood gigantea, redwood high school, redwood journalism, redwood rangers, rhs, visalia ca
