St. Rita High School’s Day of the Dead Celebration
Our Spanish Club and classes celebrated Day of the Dead by creating meaningful tributes that honor loved ones, heroes, and the rich traditions of Hispanic culture.
In the weeks leading up to our annual celebration, our Spanish Club and classes have been learning about one of the most important elements of Day of the Dead, the ofrenda, also known as a decorative altar. Ofrendas are created to welcome and honor the souls of loved ones who are believed to return for a visit. They serve as a personal and visual tribute, bridging the world of the living with that of the dead.
Our Spanish Club prepared their annual St. Rita ofrenda. Every year, students, faculty, and staff place photographs of their deceased loved ones on the ofrenda for our St. Rita Family to remember. The club also created beautiful monarch butterflies, which symbolize the spirits of deceased relatives returning to visit. These butterflies migrate every October from the midwest of the U.S.A. to a forest in Michoacán, Mexico, arriving at the same time Day of the Dead is celebrated in Mexico on November 1. Therefore, our butterflies start on the second floor heading south and arrive at our Day of the Dead ofrenda outside of our Dining Hall.
In Mr. Bogucki’s Spanish 1 classes, our Ritamen have been learning about ofrendas with a unique focus on honoring fallen heroes. Each of his classes created an ofrenda in honor of fallen members of the Chicago Police Department, the Chicago Fire Department, and the armed services from Illinois. Each Ritaman chose a fallen hero to honor by making a butterfly cutout to be placed on the ofrenda. Our Ritamen also created papel picado (cut tissue paper designs), calaveras (sugar skulls), and made tissue paper flowers to decorate the ofrendas.
Next, Mrs. Earley’s Spanish 4 Honors class learned about 7 distinctive artistic styles by artists from Spain, Mexico, and Columbia, including Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Diego Velázquez, El Greco, Diego Rivera, Fernando Botero, and Salvador Dalí. Our Ritamen then chose one symbol that represents the Day of the Dead and illustrated that symbol in any 4 of the 7 artist distinctive styles. Some of the symbols they chose were a candle, tombstone, butterfly, cross, and skull (calavera).
Students in Mrs. Earley’s AP Spanish Language and Culture class deepened their understanding of Day of the Dead through an educational visit to the National Museum of Mexican Art. Our Ritamen enjoyed the ofrendas, exhibits, as well as the beautiful murals across many of the buildings in the Pilsen neighborhood. The day concluded with lunch at The Frida Room.
Through these activities and celebrations, our Ritamen embraced the rich traditions of Day of the Dead, honoring the past while deepening their appreciation for Hispanic culture and community.
