McHenry High School students honor deceased loved ones at Día de los Muertos celebration

Since McHenry High School’s Latin American Student Organization began hosting a Día de los Muertos event, students and teachers have been asked to bring photos of loved ones who have died.

Over the past six years, club co-adviser Otto Corzo said the group has kept those prints or digital copies and added them to its collection each year.

“They are still a part of it,” he said of those students who have graduated and their relatives remembered at the event.

Those photos become part of the collection, either broadcast on a TV screen or placed on the ofrenda, or altar.

Candles, sugar skulls, candies, food, drinks and breads also are placed on the ofrenda to entice their relatives to visit, Corzo said.

It is a reminder to not forget those who have passed.”

—  Otto Corzo, McHenry High School Latin American Student Organization adviser

“It is a reminder to not forget those who have passed,” Corzo said of the Day of the Dead.

The student organization hosted its remembrance ceremony Saturday at McHenry High School District 156′s Upper Campus. Students and families from across the district were invited to come honor those loved ones and learn more about the tradition.

Alexa Munoz, 17, said her family makes an ofrenda, including offerings going back to her great-great-grandparents.

“We buy food they liked – mostly tamales, bread, drinks they liked, as well,” Munoz said. “It is a way of keeping their spirit alive within our homes.”

Munoz’s family has added a photo of her grandfather, who died two years ago.

“It was hard putting him on the altar this year,” she said.

Not every culture in Latin America celebrates Día de los Muertos.

“It is mostly Mexican, but it has branched out to other parts of Latin America,” Corzo said.

Not all Mexican Americans celebrate the day, either, Melissa Ojeda said. Her family would make an ofrenda in Mexico but has not done so in the U.S.

“It is a personal choice, and it depends on how close you are to your family members. You decide whether you want to put up an altar,” Ojeda said.

Other Latin Americans have picked up the tradition.

Corzo’s ancestry is Guatemalan – not a country that traditionally celebrates the Day of the Dead – but he said he’s embraced it, including bringing photos of his paternal grandmother and grandfather to the school event.

Corzo said it also has helped him connect to his own history. His grandmother “was instrumental in my formation. She was a single mother for most of my father’s life, and she put four kids through college” after his grandfather’s death.

“It is in my blood to be in education,” he said.