Lower School Spanish Teacher Arcelia Vázquez and how she helps USN students participate in Cheekwood's annual Dia de los Muertos celebration were recently featured by WPLN. Check out the complete story here.
Music, dance performances, and delicious dishes are all highlights of Cheekwood Estate & Garden’s annual Dia de los Muertos celebration. But the altars, or ofrenda — laden with food, flowers and photos of ancestors — are the real heart of the holiday, according to Arcelia Vazquez, who grew up in Mexico City and has helped run this event for nearly 20 years. She explained that these altars bring together the living and the dead.
“The altar is a direct connection,” she explained, “Even if I didn’t meet some of my ancestors, when it is that time, other people start talking about them and you ask questions like ‘What is the food they like?’ And even if you didn’t see any picture of them, you start making an idea how this person was.”
For many years, Vazquez has helped students in University School of Nashville's International Club participate in the celebration at Cheekwood through painting a mural, creating sidewalk chalk art, and building altars. She is also the faculty advisor to the parent affinity group Hispanic or Latinx Association, known as HOLA.
Consisting of 82 High Schoolers, the Model U.N. team returned to the Model United Nations conference and delivered a stellar performance, keeping USN’s tradition of providing leadership from the front, in the middle, and at the end of the conference going.
Students in Fifth Grade English Teacher Kevin Foster’s class wrapped up a lesson on storytelling and personal reflection by sharing their stories with members of the USN community.
This year's High School musical, "Into the Woods" will run from Thursday, November 20 through Sunday, November 23 in Durnan Auditorium. Click here to purchase tickets.
USN Mission: University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.