By Kathryn Lin ’22
Members of the LHASO club celebrated the Day of the Dead during break on Nov. 1 and 2. The Day of the Dead is a Latino holiday celebrated throughout the world, in which people come together to remember their family members who have passed away. In Latin America they have celebrations, cook special meals, create a family altar and visit grave sites. Afterwards, there are parties that involve dancing and games.
LHASO club decided to recreate this holiday at the school by decorating sugar skulls, playing Loteria (Bingo), eating food and talking about what the celebration really means. According to Damaris Saenz, English, Robotics teacher and LHASO sponsor, LHASO made a poster board to represent an altar of important figures in Latin America.
“[The] idea between the sugar skulls is the safety of not fearing death like grappling death and the skill and painting it and making it something beautiful or something artistic. [This] was one way of dealing with the fear behind death.” Saenz said.

According to Saenz, this event was a great way to bring awareness of different cultures to campus and teach people more about Latin American culture and what the Day of the Dead is about.
“Just having people come in and just to see kids because even if you are from Latin America, it doesn’t necessarily mean that your family will celebrate this. So having kids coming in and being able to learn and see and participate in the activities was nice to see.” Saenz said.
Saez said that she is excited to do this again next year and hopes that the number of participants grows and that they can take place on the Horns Commons for a bigger celebration.
“[My favorite part of the Day of the Dead celebration was] playing Loteria because it was a lot of fun. A lot of people showed up and the candy was gone, and I feel like people had fun.” Mesa, the creator of the club, said.