Parent and Child Share Culture and Community

Teachers regularly welcome parents and guardians to their classrooms for special projects and celebrations, and the upcoming Dia de los Muertos holiday gave SK parent and Parker Associate Director of Financial Assistance Julia Martinez Beiter an ideal forum to share more about her family’s Mexican culture and some customs and traditions they honor at this time of the year.

The visit began with a brief fashion show, with Martinez Beiter and her daughter modeling their colorful dresses in honor of the holiday. Martinez Beiter pointed out that her daughter’s dress was made for her by her grandmother for Dia de los Muertos, making it extra-special. She described the holiday as a time when people pay respects and remember friends and family members who have died. Traditions include honoring the deceased using sugar skulls and marigold flowers known as cempazúchitl.

Mother and daughter then read Gustavo, the Shy Ghost, Flavia Z. Drago’s story about finding the courage to make friends, with the class. Martinez Beiter introduced the concept of an ofrenda, a home altar, to honor deceased people, which features photos, personal items and food so those who have passed may enjoy worldly pleasures in the afterlife. Next, the teachers distributed materials so each student could make an ofrenda of their own based upon a person, pet, toy—or anything—they had lost and wanted to remember with a special homemade altar.

Martinez Beiter assisted students with stickers and glue sticks as they crafted Dia de los Muertos creations of their own to take home.

Enjoy photos from this experience here.