In celebration of Day of the Dead, Jones’ Association of Latin American Students (ALAS) put up an ofrenda in the main lobby of the South building, giving both students and teachers the opportunity to put up photos in honor of their lost loved ones.
An ofrenda is a staple tradition of Day of the Dead celebrations, where people put up photos of loved ones no longer with us and in addition put up some of their favorite things, whether it’s their favorite foods or their favorite items.
“It’s an annual thing that ALAS does,” said sponsor Jorge Perez. “I think this year, though, it’s a little more unique, because we actually did try to collab with a few other of the clubs in Jones to kind of get their artistic input.”
ALAS received help from the National Arts Honors Society with ofrenda decorations, and they sent out a form to students and staff allowing people to submit photos of their loved ones.
“The process is essentially just making sure that we have pictures of people who have passed away that people really cared about,” said Perez. “We also have flowers. The traditional flowers are marigolds. We also took some time to try to make sugar skulls as well, which is also a traditional aspect of offering.”
The ofrenda was a positive addition to the south lobby, and both students and staff expressed their appreciation.
“The teachers who we talked to about it said they were really happy with it, and they like seeing it every day,” said co-president Regina Rodea ‘26. “The club members were really happy to participate.”
The ofrenda was successful, and Perez believes there are aspects that they can tune up for an even more successful ofrenda next year.
“We definitely need to refine our recipe to make sugar skulls,” said Perez. “A lot of them did not turn out very great, which was unfortunate for people who made skulls and were looking forward to decorating them, so we have to work on that.” In addition, the organization wants to send out the ofrenda form earlier next year to give more people the opportunity to have their loved ones’ photos displayed.
“Because the holiday is gonna take place over the weekend, we closed the form to both have time to print out pictures and make frames for them,” said Perez. “We’ll be doing the same process next year as well, and hopefully setting it up sooner so we could have even more pictures.”
After the success of the ofrenda, ALAS is beginning to prepare for other signature events at Jones, such as ALAS Fest.
“I think for that we probably have to pick a theme soon, and then we want to do some fundraisers before, like at senior nights and stuff like that,” said Rodea.
ALAS Fest is a collection of performances that culminate during the spring, and preparations for the event begin well in advance. “We will soon be starting the audition process for anybody interested in participating,” said Perez. “We will soon be submitting our paperwork to secure the South theater and the South cafeteria for the performances and the food afterwards. And then all that is in the lead up to ALAS Fest, which will probably occur in April again this year.”
ALAS has plenty more in store for the rest of the year, and the ofrenda successfully honored students and staff’s loved ones who are no longer with us.
“Next year we definitely just want to have more people participate in the ofrenda, but overall it was a really fun process,” said Rodea.
