Glen Grove Community Project

Earlier this month, some friends and I took a trip to Pilsen. I enjoy summer visits to Pilsen to experience the vibrant Latino culture expressed in murals, painted Loteria doors, small businesses and boutiques, and the various people who call the area home. However, October in Pilsen is special - celebrations of Hispanic Heritage Month are posted on flyers everywhere, and decorations of calaveras and papel picado herald the coming of Dia de los Muertos at the beginning of November.

My friends and I sojourned to the National Museum of Mexican Art, where they have annual displays of ofrendas (displays or altars of pictures of loved ones) and art related to Dia de los Muertos traditions and imagery. Some ofrendas followed a more traditional style, with images of family members surrounded by flowers, candles, and food. Others followed specific themes like art pieces about mental health from high schoolers to the fuchsia table settings honoring a notable community member.

At the end of our visit, my friends and I took a moment to write memories of our own loved ones to add to the community ofrenda wall. I wrote about how the song "Make You Feel My Love" always reminds me of my late grandmother, Aurora Armas, who passed away in 2022. Her picture has been on our own community ofrenda for the past few years, along with the other loved ones we remember during this time.

As I stepped back to gaze at the wall of over a hundred papers filled with names of beloved parents, grandparents, siblings, children, dogs, cats, and even a fish named Fishy, I couldn't help feel connected to all these people I had never met. Western depictions of funerals and death often bring up colors of black and white and somber reflection - but Dia de los Muertos and other traditions of remembering loved ones remind us that what we are celebrating is lives lived in color, vibrancy, and love. They also demonstrate that we do not honor and remember alone - we celebrate together in the shared experience of the enduring love for the communities that build us and the communities we continue to build.

Our Gators made diyas to celebrate Diwali and had a special Diwali celebration during the lunch on October 20, 2025. They got to eat surrounded by colorful rangoli, paper diyas, and some great Bollywood music. Special thanks to Ms. Geeta Chennareddy for her collaboration in planning as well as our teachers and students who made this celebration spcecial!

Diyas are symbolic of the triumph of light over dark in the stories of Diwali. Oftentimes made of clay, diyas are ornately decorated and light up family celebrations. Learn how to make paper diyas in the video below!

How do you remember loved ones, both past and present?

The GGCP acknowledges the land upon which Glen Grove School stands on and in being part of this community, we want to share resources to further our students' and families' knowledge of the land and respect communities of past and present. This year, a donation was made to the National Indigenous Women's Resource Center

• Katherine Ellison, Glen Grove Principal
• Aurora Joaquin, Glen Grove Speech-Language Pathologist
• Hedy Helfand, Glen Grove English Language Learning Teacher
• Lisa Funke, Glen Grove Learning Resource Center Director
• Nicole Bright, Glen Grove 4th Grade ClassroomTeacher
• Marie Chang-Pisano, Glen Grove Reading Intervention Associate
• Jill Burns, Glen Grove Science Coach
• Sylvia Gorski Duarte, District Title III Family Resource Teacher
• Lindsey Lurie, District Multilingual Instructional Coach

Email: GGCommunityProject@gmail.com

Instagram: @ggcommunityproject