ESCANABA - While many students celebrated Halloween Friday, Spanish students at Bark River-Harris celebrated the Latin holiday Day of the Dead.
"It's basically a time to celebrate the lives of those that have passed on instead of being sad about it," said Spanish teacher Amanda Kivioja. "They also make ofrendas, and that's what we are doing for our project."
Ofrendas are alters of offerings toward a person who is deceased. Traditionally it is like a memorial or a representation of a person's life. Sophomore Briana Goodchild and senior Derek Britton chose to do their ofrenda on George Lopez, a Mexican American comedian and actor.
Goodchild said Britton chose to do the project on Lopez - she had never heard of him, but enjoyed learning about him.
"I learned about his television show and his comedy and how he's involved in charity work, too," said Goodchild.
Kivioja said Day of the Dead is generally celebrated in Mexico and other Latin American countries. It is a time when some believe the spirits of those who have passed on will come back for one night and revisit their homes. Day of the Dead generally falls on Nov. 1-2, sometimes starting on Oct. 31 depending on the area. It corresponds with All Saints Day in the Christian religion.
Traditional Day of the Dead celebrations include parades and spending the day at the cemetery with music while cleaning and decorating the cemetery.
BR-H Spanish students were paired up and asked to chose a Spanish-speaking person, living or dead, and created an ofrenda to honor them. Some of the ofrendas honored Shakira, Selena, famous painters, singers, actors, and even a bullfighter.
Students had to research the person they chose and find items to place on their ofrenda to represent that individual's life, such as the person's favorite food, flowers, candles, photographs and objects that were important to them.
The Spanish program is new at Bark River-Harris. Students from freshmen to seniors participated in the Day of the Dead project, and students in all grade levels were able to view the end results. Goodchild said the new program has been a success.
"I think it's a lot of fun. You get to learn about the culture (as well as the language). Ms. Kivioja gives us a lot of fun stuff. I think it's a really great class for anyone to take," said Goodchild.
