Bioscience High School’s Spanish National Honor Society on Friday evening hosted its second yearly Día de los Muertos festival dedicated to the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshot firefighters who were killed fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire in June.
After food and games, Sharon Leskie, the adviser for the Spanish National Honor Society, stepped onto the courtyard stage and dedicated the festival to the Granite Mountain Hotshot firefighters. A minute of silence was given in their honor.
“Sometimes, when we talk about these things, we understand that it can sometimes be a time of sadness, but we’re at the point where, especially at this festival, we don’t want to be sad,” Leskie said during the introduction. “We want to be happy about who they were.”
Leskie said there wasn’t a monetary goal for the festival. She said all the proceeds would be divided among the families of the hotshots.
Eight students read poems they wrote that were dedicated to a person in their lives, alive or dead, who affected them. The poems were in both Spanish and English.
One of the students, Amanda Trent, read a poem she wrote about the memories of her great-aunt who had passed away and the things she did.
Although Trent read a poem about someone close to her who had passed away, she didn’t appear sad. She offered some advice to those who may be feeling this way during Día de los Muertos.
“You shouldn’t be sad on this day,” Trent said. “This day is about bringing back the memories as if they are alive and celebrating their life.”
Leskie shared similar sentiments about the main purpose of Día de los Muertos.
“There is a misconception about the Día de los Muertos that we want to clear up,” Leskie said. “The lesson we want people to learn is that when people die in Spanish-speaking countries, it’s not something they mourn but treat as if they live on within us.”
The Spanish National Honor Society set an altar for students and visitors to honor those who had died, Bioscience junior and honor society president Clarissa Smith said.
The altar was partly dedicated to Norma Tisdel, a substitute teacher who passed away a year ago and whom the students and faculty loved dearly, Bioscience sophomore and club member Alicia Coberley said.
“She was a big member of the community, and her loss was felt,” Coberley said.
The school’s second Día de los Muertos festival was put on in partnership with several other student organizations. The school’s art club did face painting and the Science Technology and Research Society operated a small planetarium inside the school.
Other activities included games such as Lotería, or Spanish bingo, and a ring-toss game called juego de araña. Other students ran a haunted house.
Contact the reporter at Hunter.Marrow@asu.edu
