This morning’s chapel celebrated Día de los Muertos, a Mexican holiday honoring family members and close friends who have died.  

With the actual holiday on Tuesday, and the chapel service today, the school week has been filled with Día de los Muertos festivities bringing awareness to the community.

“We incorporated Spanish culture into [chapel] by reading poetry and having visuals on the TV,” senior Bella Kearney said.

Día de los Muertos is not a melancholy holiday, but rather has a celebratory mood surrounding the event — the goal is to fondly remember the dead, not to be sad over their passing, according to Student Life Director Devin DeMartini-Cooke.

“I wrote three names down in the book on the altar and then I also lit a candle,” junior Starneisia Hooper said. “Every year [Dia de los Muertos] has a different meaning for me because I am growing up and I understand the importance of why we don’t cry over [death], we celebrate their lives.”

Each individual could honor their loved ones by expressing their thoughts on notecards, lighting a candle, adding something to the altar, or just silently reflecting in prayer.

“[Chapel] helped bring to light this way of thinking about death, how Mexican culture actually sees it, and how inspiring and beautiful that is,” Kearney said.