On Friday, Sept. 29, Southwest’s Advanced Placement (AP) Spanish students put up a display in the Media Center about the Day of the Dead, or Día de los Muertos, a holiday celebrated in Mexico. Each student created a physical project and wrote a description that included Spanish vocabulary. 

For their projects, they all chose one object involved in the celebration to create for the display. 

“My project was papel picado (a tissue paper banner with designs), which was really fun to make with my family,” senior Haniel Cruz said. “People should go see the display because you can learn more about what Day of the Dead is actually about. Personally, I didn’t know about the significance of certain things, but the colors have meaning, the designs have meaning and there’s a lot of history behind it.”

The Day of the Dead falls on Nov. 1 and 2. It is a time for family members to celebrate the lives of their deceased loved ones. Although it takes place around the same time as Halloween, the two holidays are not the same.

“It’s important for people to see the display because sometimes there are misconceptions about Día de los Muertos,” Mrs. Rebecca Christenson said. “Sometimes people think it’s the same thing as Halloween. This would be a way to begin to understand some of the differences.”

Each student also chose one book to display alongside their project. Anyone who wants to learn about the Day of the Dead or discover Mexican culture and history can stop by the library to visit the display or pick out one of the books.