Upper School students in Teacher Bonnie Martinez’s Spanish class created beautiful ofrendas (altars) in honor of Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), a predominantly Mexican/Latine holiday celebrated on November 1 and 2. The students’ ofrendas spotlighted trailblazers of Mexican heritage as part of their study of the nation, including:

• Leonora Carrington, British-born, naturalized Mexican surrealist painter and novelist
• Cesar Chavez, organizer of migrant American farmworkers and civil rights activist
• Frida Kahlo, renowned Mexican painter
• Juan Rulfo, Mexican writer, screenwriter, and photographer known for his contributions to 20th century Latin American literature
• Diego Rivera, prominent Mexican painter who led the Mexican muralist movement

Students topped their ofrendas with cempasúchils (marigolds)—the symbolic flower of the holiday—and celebrated with pan de muerto (Mexican sweet bread), which, like the marigolds, are believed to bridge the living and the departed souls.