When the Dead Come Home: A Journey Through Summit High School's Month-Long Day of the Dead Celebration

By Emma Deal

Dec. 1, 2025

Dia de los Muertos, traditionally celebrated on Nov. 1 and 2, has become a month-long tradition at Summit High School. For the second year in a row, SHS students and teachers have come together to build a communal “ofrenda” in the school’s common area. This year, several small altars were built and displayed in different parts of the school.

Mrs. Rodriguez, SHS’ Higher Level IB Spanish teacher, came up with the idea to build the altar in 2024, not thinking that it’d become a long-standing tradition. 

“We made the altar thinking it would be a great experience,” she said. “We did not think it would be a tradition until we saw and felt the response from the community.” 

The altar was so well received by SHS last fall that Mrs. Rodriguez felt compelled to build it again this year. 

“There was a student who stood in front of the altar as I worked on it and said, ‘This is my culture. I’ve never seen my culture represented like this in school,’” Mrs. Rodriguez recalls.

This year, she collaborated with Mr. Van Oss’ dual-language construction tech class to build the frame for the altar. The altar’s construction and assembly began in October. Then, teachers and students contributed daily to decorating the altar, bringing in pictures of relatives, food, and sentimental objects. The altar remained the centerpiece of the common area for the month of November.

The altar is not the only initiative Mrs. Rodriguez has taken to celebrate Dia de los Muertos, however. She has also incorporated the celebration into her IB Spanish Higher Level course. This year, seniors completed a unit in which they investigated the meaning behind the traditional “calavera” decorations and made their own “calaveras,” integrating their own experiences and cultures into the Day of the Dead celebration.

What started as an experiment has become one of SHS’ most inclusive and beloved traditions, bridging the gap between SHS’ diverse community members.