LAUSD officials visiting Haddon Avenue STEAM Academy and Magnet in Pacoima April 2 enjoyed a special performance by students playing violins and vihuelas (small guitars) while singing Mexican standards to celebrate upgrades to the elementary school’s mariachi classroom.
LAUSD Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho and other guests smiled and nodded along to the students’ rendition of “Los Laureles” (The Laurels).
Dressed in traditional mariachi suits with red bows, the young mariachi players – from first-grade students to fifth graders – appeared focused and determined to get every note and song lyric just right, occasionally smiling.
Representatives of both the College Football Playoff Foundation and School Specialty – which jointly donated the funding to pay for the floor-to-ceiling enhancements – were also on hand for the performance and classroom unveiling. The mariachi room – used for Haddon’s elective mariachi class and its after-school mariachi program – was fully renovated, with soundproofing and added storage cabinets. The students also have new instruments, music stands, chairs and computers.
“Look at this room,” said Carvalho, pointing out the new equipment, furnishings and “impressive soundproofing.” He described the classroom’s transformation as a “gift of empowerment [and] enrichment.”
Juan Romero, the music teacher and mariachi instructor at Haddon, said he appreciated the generous contributions to help support his students and the mariachi program.
“It feels great to know that not only the people I work with are very fond of the mariachi group, but also so many people outside of the school love it, too,” said Romero. “It’s definitely great.”
Carvalho commended Romero for “inspiring the youth of our community.”
“The work that Mr. Romero does every single day … bringing culture and tradition that can never die, through the powerful, explosive demonstration of talent by our students, is something we prize,” said Carvalho.
One of those students, 11-year-old Lulu Cimone Fry, a fifth grader at Haddon, said she is grateful to be part of the mariachi program and for her teacher.
“I want to thank everyone that I get to have an opportunity to try new things with music,” said Fry. “My mariachi teacher Mr. Romero [has] helped me create such a bigger purpose in life with music, and he’s taught me so many different things about [playing] my violin [and] the guitar.”
“This music room is really, really wonderful,” said Britton Banowsky, executive director of the College Football Playoff Foundation. “We know that space matters on campuses and space engages students, especially in a learning environment that is really special, so we’re happy to be able to bring that to the table.” Britton also announced an additional surprise donation of $2,000 to purchase new mariachi suits for the students, to complement their upgraded classroom.
The mariachi program at Haddon was first launched in 2014 with $2,000 worth of instruments. Today more than 30 students participate in the free after-school mariachi program, which is offered in partnership with Woodcraft Rangers, an educational nonprofit that provides enrichment opportunities for LA-area students.
The mariachi group meets after school Monday through Friday, for two hours of instruction and rehearsals. The students regularly get to perform at special community events throughout the year, including the Pacoima Holiday Parade and the San Fernando Holiday Tree Lighting.
Romero, who has worked with the mariachi program for eight years, said he is inspired by his students and their enthusiasm for learning – and embracing the mariachi traditions – every day.
“I feel like I learn as much as the kids do,” said Romero. He said he became a “mariachi enthusiast” when he was a student at San Fernando Middle School (then San Fernando Junior High), which he said was one of the first public schools in the San Fernando Valley to offer mariachi instruction to students.
The city of San Fernando sponsors a Mariachi Masters Apprentice Program for youth to keep up with the growing interest in the increasingly popular music genre, believed to have originated between the late 1700s and early 1800s in the west-central region of Mexico.
Romero described it as deeply gratifying to play a part in passing along the cultural tradition of mariachi music to the next generation, adding that he looks forward to going to work every morning.
“I feel so, so happy to know that when the parents come to pick up [their kids], some of them don’t want to go home. They often want to stay, at least a few more minutes,” he said smiling.
“That shows me they love what I’m teaching them, that they love what they’re experiencing in the program,” continued Romero. “I assume that I’m doing something right, because they keep coming back.”