How high school mariachi programs are transforming students’ lives
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Aria Guerrero, a senior at Mount Vernon High School in Washington state, played violin for six years before joining her school’s mariachi and folklórico class. Three years later, and just weeks away from graduation, she says the experience gave her something far deeper than musical growth: a bridge to her Mexican culture.
“I grew up feeling like I didn’t fit in,” said Guerrero. “My mom is white and we live in Washington state, away from the rest of my Mexican family, but this program has helped me find a community that’s accepting of me.”
Aria Guerrero is one of 120 students who belong to MVHS’s mariachi and folklórico program. Since its founding in 2012, the program has become the largest mariachi and folklórico ensemble in western Washington state. MVHS’s experience parallels a nationwide movement. Just 30 years ago, instruction in mariachi and folklórico dance was almost unheard of in high schools. Today, more than 500 mariachi high school programs exist across the United States, according to the national magazine, Hispanic Outlook on Education.
Outside the school’s auditorium doors, two flags bearing the images of traditional Mexican sombreros stretch from floor to ceiling. One reads “Mariachi;” the other “Folklórico.” Beneath the flags, players in traditional charro suits synchronize trumpets, violins and guitarróns, a large, six stringed acoustic guitar. They fill the room with striking, layered notes that rise above the recorded ranchero music and that spills out into the hallway. Meanwhile, folklórico dancers practice their footwork, sweeping the floor with every turn of their wide, colorful skirts.
Ramon Rivera has spent 25 years teaching, including the last six at Mount Vernon as the director of the mariachi and folklórico program. Washington State named him Music Teacher of the Year in 2023 for his dedication to the program and his students.
Rivera recalls falling in love with music as a child after his mother bought him a trumpet at a garage sale and told him he would one day become a mariachi.
“My teaching is a way of paying forward from my own experience,” Rivera said. “The moment my mother gave me that trumpet was someone believing in me. I try to replicate that for every student who enters my classroom.”
Mount Vernon High School’s Mariachi and Folklórico group performs for students at Blaine Middle School in Blaine, Washington. (video by Melody Marichalar)
Many of his students take the class as a physical education credit and fine arts credit, but for others it functions as something much more personal. Talia Mejia, a sophomore, says joining this program has strengthened both her sense of community and self-confidence.
“It’s one of the best experiences I’ve had in high school. I made so many friends and have gained a lot of confidence in myself.” In a crowded hallway between classes, Rivera takes his time acknowledging every student who calls out his name or pulls him into a hug.
After noticing that students lacked awards to include on their resumes, Rivera created his own certificate for the mariachi and folklórico program: student of the week. The certificate celebrates students hard work and leadership. Just by being a part of the program, students are eligible to win a scholarship entirely funded by community members and parents. This year, they raised $9,500 that funded 19 scholarships.
“When you give a kid a scholarship, you believe in them,” Rivera said. “You go, ‘here’s $500, make something of yourself to change society; make it a better place for everybody.’”
The number of high school mariachi bands is growing across the country, a movement catching the attention of researchers.
Lauryn Salazar, an associate professor of musicology at Texas Tech University, has spent her career researching and preserving the art of mariachi. She believes that mariachi, as a musical genre, is entering a transformative moment in American education. She added that we’re also seeing a parallel where mariachi in schools today is where jazz was 50 years ago. “Now you have jazz programs all around the world,” Salazar said.
“Mexican regional music has definitely been having its moment,” she added. “And it’s only continuing to grow.”
When she’s not teaching, Salazar judges one of Texas’ largest mariachi competitions for high school students: University Interscholastic League State Mariachi Festival (UIL).
In 2019, the first UIL State Mariachi Festival featured 70 teams. By 2026, that number had grown to 99 — a rapid increase in just seven years.
Competitions like UIL are breaking past cultural norms and paving new ground for mariachi culture. Today, a new generation is redefining these expectations, with more women performing alongside men, proving that talent doesn’t discriminate and tradition isn’t a barrier.
These changes are not limited to high school bands however. Not only are more girls participating in high school mariachi groups, Salazar says all-female mariachi bands are also on the rise. Mariachi Reina de los Ángeles in Los Angeles, California; the Grammy-winning New Mexico band Flor de Toloache and Veronica Robles Mariachi Femenil in East Boston, Mass., are all-female mariachi bands leading the way for future generations.
Salazar said she is proud of how far women have come in mariachi and hopes to see them take on more leadership roles as composers and band leaders.
“I would also like to see more women having opportunities to be composers,” Salazar said.
Despite the momentum building behind mariachi and folklórico, the lack of formal programs leave aspiring educators with no linear path to follow. Restrictions remain, especially when it comes to research and opportunities for those looking to turn their passion into a teaching career.
“Everyone who’s teaching mariachi right now does not have a degree in it because [that degree] doesn’t exist” yet, Salazar said.
For mariachi and folklórico to continue flourishing, Rivera agrees there’s a need for more formal degrees and funding.
“Some schools are cutting these kinds of programs. They don’t have the resources,” Rivera said. “But when you fund a program, look at what kind of success it could achieve.”
— Story by Melody Marichalar
– Copy edited by Valerie Izquierdo
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