To celebrate Mexico’s Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, on Nov. 1, third grade teacher Irais Reed invites her students and their families to remember family members and family pets who’ve passed away.

“It’s so special because you’re able to remember your loved ones, but it’s not a sad tradition,” Reed said. “You never want to forget those special memories that you have with them. So we focus a lot on those special moments, the moments that they used to make you laugh, the moments that you’re going to cherish from your loved ones.”

Reed sets up a classroom ofrenda, a table decorated with Day of the Dead symbols. Each child brings a picture of a family member or pet who has passed away, along with some of their favorite items or treats, to place on the ofrenda. Then they share memories of their loved one with the class.

Reed said it is a tradition that turns a sad moment into a celebration by focusing on happy memories that strengthen family connections.

“What I love the most is that by honoring them year after year, you continue to have that special bond and special memory with your family members,” Reed said.

Reed has celebrated the Mexican holiday with her dual language immersion Spanish classes at Herriman Elementary for the past five years. This year, even though she is teaching regular classes instead of DLI, she will continue the tradition.

Laurie Meservy, whose children were in Reed’s DLI classes previously, said it was a good experience for them.

“I thought it was good for the kids to get to experience how another culture remembers ancestry and how they connect with their dead, and I think it was a good opportunity to talk with them about some of the people in our family that have passed on,” she said.

Her children, Annie, now a sixth grader, and Grant, now a fourth grader, still remember learning to make Mexican crafts and sharing memories of their great grandma with their classmates in Reed’s class.

“I do feel like Dia de Los Muertos helps us stay connected to our ancestors,” Annie said. “I just feel like you need to know some other cultural stuff about other people’s places and where they live.” Grant said learning about other cultures prepares him to travel to other countries someday.

Meservy’s children barely remember their great grandma, whose picture they both placed on their classroom ofrenda, but some students felt their losses more acutely.

“Senora Reed does a great job making it very comfortable and inviting for those who maybe death is a little bit harder for, or have had something recent happen, or are very sensitive,” Meservy said.

Reed said the Day of the Dead traditions soften the pain of loss for families.

“It makes a hard moment seem, for a little kid, more bearable, and they focus on those memories, and they don’t focus so much on the sadness part that a loss brings,” Reed said. 

Some of Reed’s past students have continued to celebrate the Day of the Dead with their families.

“I love that I’m able to bring something, a new tradition from me that I can share with them, and then they’re able to do it year after year in their own home, even though we come from different nationalities,” Reed said.

Reed will continue to do the traditional Day of the Dead activities, crafts and presentations with her students even though it is no longer part of her curriculum.

“That’s why I love being a teacher, because you give students those meaningful experiences that is not just curriculum-based,” she said. “You share with one another in your classroom a little bit of each other. You get to know each other, and that’s how you build your strong relationships.”λ