Day of the dead, or “Dia de los Muertos,” is a annual holiday celebrated in Hispanic countries all over the world. It is a holiday that  honors loved ones who have passed by celebrating the things that they loved in life. Some of the basic rituals include cleaning a loved one’s grave, placing things that they like to eat like cookies and drinks at their grave, and decorating altars with small items from their home and newspaper clipping from the day that they passed.

    This year Spanish teacher Cindy Eppes helped her class celebrate this holiday. On the first day they learned the traditions and rituals that are done in Mexico and other countries.

    “This group is different than my previous because they are more interested in the culture,” Eppes said. “I personally practice this holiday at home, and I hope I can impact my students to want to go home and share with their families”

   One of the traditions that the class completed was the decorating of an altar. Each student brought a picture of a relative that had passed and decorated it with their name, birth date, passing date and other things about them.

    “My favorite part was making the a background for my picture,” sophomore Seth Folsom said. “I chose to do a background over my great-grandfather because I was very close with him and had many great memories.”

    Another thing that the students were able to do were make tissue paper flowers. This helped students use their creativity and personalize the flowers the colors they liked.

    “My flower was blue, pink, green,and yellow,” sophomore Jaylee Hullum said. “It was a really great way to be different.”

    Students were also excited about the chance to eat in class. Students were allowed to bring dishes that their loved one had liked best, and the result was a wide variety of different types of food for everyone to try..

    “My favorite thing was when we got to eat, because it helped me taste things that others like,” junior Trey Duran said. “I kind of knew what the experience was like, because we did something like this at my old school. But it helped me learn that people not only honor other people, but their animals as well.”

    When the students walked into class, they found out that day they were going to be sharing stories if they wished. Many of the students enjoyed sharing their favorite memories.

    “My favorite part was when we told stories,” sophomore Trey Minter said. “It was very interesting to me; it was really cool experience, and I even went home and shared it with my family.”