Honoring Tradition: Students Remember the Spirit of Dia de los Muertos at Portola High

Nora Aljazzar and Sruti Allani

Ofrendas created by Spanish Two were displayed in the upper 1000 Student Commons. “The students in the Chinese class and the students from the French program also came to join,” said Spanish teacher Otto Lopez. “Almost 350 students at school participated in the tradition.”

The Learning Commons and Student Commons were decked out with crafts and decorations for Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, on Nov. 1, with the official holiday taking place on Nov. 2. The displayed decorations date back to the Aztecs, according to Spanish teacher Otto Lopez.

One specific craft set up for the holiday is the ofrenda, or altar for the dead. For this activity, students and faculty can write the name or a memory they have of a loved one and add it to the altar.

“We celebrate Dia de los Muertos in my family,” Lopez said. “We call it Dia de los Santos because my family is Guatemalan, but it’s very similar. We honor the dead, and we decorate the tombs, and we go to the cemetery. Here at school, we bring a little bit of that with our Spanish 2 project, and students honor somebody in their family.”

This helps the campus community feel as if they have honored those who are important to them, so that students feel comfortable spending time in the learning commons and that a community is established there, according to Kern. The Commons are the only indoor gathering space in the school that is open throughout the entire school day, which allows students to grow accustomed to the environment of the learning commons.

“It’s important because it’s a way to commemorate the people that have passed, and all the things they’ve done,” AP Spanish student and sophomore Paulina Ruiz said. “It just helps us remember our ancestors.”

For Spanish Two students, one major project that takes place for the Dia De Los Muertos holiday is for students to create posters and shoeboxes to commemorate an important person who has passed. Students get to choose to revolve their project around a former loved one or a deceased celebrity and projects are used to decorate the learning commons.

November is also National Native American Heritage Month, so the Learning Commons will be incorporating new crafts and displaying novels based off of the holiday. In the coming months, the library will have new decorations. Outside of Portola High, the Great Park also displayed an ofrenda on Nov. 2, allowing all members of the Irvine community to remember their loved ones.

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About the Contributors

Nora Aljazzar, Staff Writer

Nora Aljazzar is a staff writer for her first year on the Portola Pilot. Ready to start off her sophomore year growing as a journalist, Nora is determined to make an impact during her time working on the Portola Pilot this year. When Nora isn’t enjoying a good book, she likes to spend quality time with her family or watch sitcoms with her sister.

Sruti Allani, Staff Writer

Sruti Allani is a staff writer for her first year on the Portola Pilot. This year, she is excited to work with her fellow Pilot members to create compelling stories. When she’s not playing Fashion Makeover, you can find her struggling with her math homework, eating oranges or rearranging her room for the twentieth time.