Walnutwood students honor lost loved ones in creative classroom project
Colorful decorations, festive food and moving memorials all contributed to the transformation of a room at Walnutwood High School recently. The change was for Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead: a Mexican holiday in which people reunite with their lost loved ones. The celebration is a long-standing tradition in the Adolescent Parent Program, or APP.
Jenny Harmon, a teacher at Walnutwood, started the tradition back in 2001 at Folsom Lake High School as a way to help students cope after the 9-11 terrorist attacks. At the time, students printed out the names of those who died and turned them into confetti. Harmon brought the celebration to Walnutwood with her in 2004 and has continued the tradition every year since.
Each year, students create altars for family, friends and popular figures who have died. The altars include items of both symbolic and personal significance. Salt, for instance, represents tears of happiness, and marigolds lead the departed souls back home for the day.
The nineteen students in the program spent several weeks preparing to share the celebration with their loved ones and community members, who streamed in and out during a special reception.
“[The Day of the Dead celebration] brings families together to celebrate a day with lost ones,” Barraza said.