The Midlothian High School Spanish Club held their annual Cookies & Cocoa event on Wednesday, Oct. 29 where the celebrated Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead), a holiday where family members and close friends gather to pay their respects to family members that have passed.
The multi-day holiday is usually celebrated in Mexico or by people of Mexican descent, beginning on November 1 by honoring deceased children, and continuing onto November 2 by doing the same for deceased adults. Although, it may sound like a somber day, it is instead filled with music, food, and color meant to be a celebration of life.
The event, held in the Closed Commons, brought Spanish Club members together to decorate skull cookies, drink Mexican hot chocolate, and watch the Pixar film Coco. The students spent the hour creatively decorating their cookies with multi-colored frosting, and some adding motifs of the movie, like a guitar, to their treats.
“It is just a time for Midlo students, not only Spanish club and not society members, but just kids at Midlo to come and stay after school to decorate cookies and watch the movie Coco,” Spanish Club president, Jonah DeVriendt (12) said.
Some Spanish club members have been attending the event since their freshman year because of the sense of community and delicious food.
“I just think that Cookies & Cocoa is an amazing tradition where students can hang out, but also learn about Mexican culture and just be with their friends surrounded by cookies,” Rhys Montgomery (12) said.
Executive members of Spanish Club are saddened that, as seniors, this is their last year hosting the event, but are excited about how the future generations of the club will choose to continue on the tradition.
“This is always one of the more memorable things. It’s a lot easier and stress-free than some of the other meetings that we have,” DeVriendt (12) said.
