Emerson community celebrates Day of the Dead

Emerson Elementary did something a little different for Halloween this year.

The school held its second annual celebration of La Dia de los Muertos -- the Day of the Dead -- on Oct. 28. The Day of the Dead is a Hispanic holiday that honors the memory of loved ones who have passed on. The event was part of Emerson’s International Pathways Spanish dual immersion gifted program, which draws students from all over Salt Lake District.

“It’s not celebrating death, it’s honoring the dead in a different way,” said IP Culture and Community Co-chair Sean Graff, who coordinated the event.

The Day of the Dead is typically more colorful, and less somber and ritualistic than many other cultures’ treatment of death, he added. “It appeals to a lot of people for this reason,” he said.

The Day of the Dead is traditionally celebrated on Nov. 1 or 2, and is a bit different in each country, though all combine many Christian and pre-Christian ideas.

Emerson’s celebration was held in both English and Spanish to accommodate the 50 percent of families in the program that are Spanish speaking. Children and families of all backgrounds made traditional Day of the Dead crafts, including skull masks and paper flowers, had their faces painted as skulls, and enjoyed foods like Bread of the Dead and sugar skulls they could decorate themselves. IP students performed the traditional Baile de los Viejitos -- Dance of the Old People -- complete with bearded masks and canes, and a parent gave salsa and merengue dance lessons.

Several families also set up altars honoring their own deceased members.

“We believe that on that day, the spirits of the dead come back,” said parent and IP committee member Nancy Robertos, who comes from Zacatecas in Central Mexico. Her altar was made to honor her grandfather, who passed two years ago.

Day of the Dead altars are generally spread with beautiful cloths and packed with flowers, candles, sugar skulls and the honoree’s favorite food and drink to welcome him or her back. Strong-smelling flowers, called “zempasuchil” in Mexico, and more lights are arranged in a pathway up to the altar to help guide the spirit there. And of course, the centerpiece of even the simplest altar is always a photo of the loved one.

A Day of the Dead celebration helps the young generations get to know their ancestors through little things like playing the kinds of music they enjoyed in life, Robertos said. Celebrating it at Emerson is a good way for the families there that are not familiar with the holiday to begin to understand that culture, she said.

“Our goal is to help students become bilingual, bi-literate and bicultural,” Principal Dan Bergman said.