LA Scholas students honor 30 bullying victims in Día de los Muertos altar

Jose Emiliano Zamora, a freshman football player at Santa Clara High School, died by suicide on Nov. 6, 2024, after enduring severe bullying from classmates.

His crime? Being homeless.

Shaylee Mejia, 16, a student at Manual Arts High School in South Los Angeles, died after suffering severe injuries in a fight in a school restroom.

How? Her mother blamed bullying and the school for not protecting her daughter.

These were just some of the 30 people who have died as a result of bullying that were honored by Scholas USA students by placing their photos on a dedicated altar during one of the annual Día de los Muertos celebrations on Oct. 24 at Calvary Cemetery in East Los Angeles.

The altar featured framed portraits of the victims with small white candles, along with a write-up of each person and signs with information on how bullying hurts. The project was conceived and designed by a group of high school students who have been meeting every Monday night since April at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in LA’s Pico-Union neighborhood as members of Scholas USA — one of the chapters of Pope Francis’ Scholas Occurrentes project to promote a “culture of encounter” among young people.

There are now six Scholas USA clubs in Los Angeles.

This year marked the first time Scholas USA members have participated in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ Día de los Muertos events, with upcoming celebrations set for Nov. 7 at San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills and Santa Clara Cemetery in Oxnard.

Since August, members of the Scholas USA chapter at St. Thomas the Apostle have been learning about bullying and its often-tragic results. When the archdiocese reached out to the club’s leader, Maximilian Mastrangelo, to have members serve as volunteers at the Día de los Muertos event, officials also invited them to build an altar.

It made sense, said Mastrangelo, Scholas USA’s program facilitator in Los Angeles, for the students to honor youth who have taken their lives or have been killed as a result of bullying,

“It’s a very important issue,” he said. “The stigma of being bullied still is strong. A lot of kids are afraid to report bullying, fearing that nobody will do anything about it. Some high school teachers see it as part of growing up. But adults have a legal responsibility to address bullying once it happens at their school, regardless of where the bullying started.”

In an email to Mastrangelo, Brian McMahon, director of community outreach and marketing for the archdiocese’s Catholic Cemeteries and Mortuaries, expressed his gratitude for the Scholas USA students who participated in the Día de los Muertos celebration.

“My team and I were impressed by the wonderful turnout and the genuine enthusiasm with which the students participated,” McMahon wrote. “The altar honoring young people whose lives were lost as a result of bullying was particularly moving. It was a powerful reminder of every person’s dignity and our shared responsibility to foster kindness, compassion, and respect for one another.”

Some 20 students worked on the bullying altar, including Emmy Velasco, a senior at Notre Dame Academy who helped prepare the memorial for Zamora.

She and other club members learned about the four main types of bullying: social, physical, verbal, and cyberbullying — the most common form of bullying and, in Mastrangelo’s view, the most harmful.

“Cyberbullying can continue 24/7 once you’re a target and you can never escape it,” Mastrangelo said. “I try to empower the kids that it’s not OK and it needs to be reported to an adult they trust, and that the adult has a responsibility to address it.”

Velasco, who plans to study psychology in college, learned about Scholas USA through her confirmation classes. She joined the club at St. Thomas the Apostle in April and was sent to Rome to meet other members from Italy, Mexico, Indonesia, and Portugal.

“It was such a wonderful experience,” she said. “I met so many incredible people from around the world — I’m very interested in hearing about different perspectives.”

Bridget Nuñez, who graduated this year from Sacred Heart High School, learned about Scholas USA when she was a first-year student. Two years later, she was invited to meet Pope Francis in Rome following her outstanding work with the organization.

She said Scholas sparked her interest in pursuing a major in political science and her goal of becoming a politician.

“I want to become a leader so I can give back to my community,” Nuñez said. “Scholas gives students a safe space to speak out; there are no right or wrong answers. And I’ve become part of a large network of people around the world.

“At its heart, Scholas is about connection. And I believe that’s what a lot of young people need: more spaces to speak our minds and create change without an adult saying, ‘No, you can’t do that.’ In Scholas, whatever idea we may have can come to life.”