SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Last month, ABC 10News highlighted the retirement of a music teacher who helped establish one of the most renowned school mariachi programs in the country. Keith Ballard's efforts were not made in isolation but were part of a larger movement to include mariachi music in school curricula, benefiting Latino students who had often been marginalized.
In the early 1990s, there was a disconnect at the Sweetwater Union High School District, where school police were cracking down on truants with the harsh message, "skip school, get arrested," and there were threats of enforcing school uniforms due to fears of gangs.
Students of color and those from low-income backgrounds faced significant struggles.
Low reading test scores at Sweetwater High School resulted in many students ending up on academic probation when they moved on to Southwestern Community College.
A school official in 1992 commented, "It means they're prepared to fail, is what that means in our minds."
Enter Bob Griego, a Mexican American parent who would eventually become the president of the district's board of directors.
Griego discovered at a national education conference in New Mexico that student success was closely tied to their sense of connection. At that time, 49% of the district's student population was Latino, and school staff observed that these families were less involved in the schools than other groups.
Griego was inspired by an after-school mariachi performance sustained by fundraisers from parents and students. He advocated for the inclusion of a mariachi program in the school curriculum.
By 1996, mariachi had arrived at Sweetwater High and eventually spread to other schools in the district, thanks to Griego and the Mariachi Scholarship Foundation he founded.
One student in 2000 noted, "I sing, and I relieve my stress. I forget about everything, and I just love the music."
"They're more inspired to go to school. It helps with attendance because they like to do something. It's helping them to do better in math and science," Griego said.
The positive influence of mariachi extends beyond high school.
Dr. Jeff Nevin, chair of Performing Arts at Southwestern College, has been involved with the Mariachi Scholarship Foundation from the start.
"It is part of, kind of, my mission as, as a mariachi teacher. Um, starting at Southwestern College is my base," says Nevin.
Dr. Nevin saw that mariachi education was growing exponentially and recognized its potential, much like jazz decades before.
He noted, "I could tell that mariachi music was changing in the same way, so I knew that we were gonna need more mariachi teachers."
In 2004, Dr. Nevin created the world’s first associate degree in mariachi, providing students who fell in love with the music in high school a pathway to higher education while also bridging cultural gaps.
"I've seen this with my students, you know, the, the la huelapo tala espanol, and the kids are talking in English and imagine what that's like. I mean, it's, it's like you literally don’t speak the same language as your grandchildren, but now imagine that those kids show up and they're dressed in a charro," Nevin explained. "And they’re singing the same songs that you sing with your parents when you were growing up, so Bob recognized that the music was a cultural touchstone for the kids, for the parents, and for the whole community."
Dr. Nevin currently also teaches mariachi at San Diego State University, furthering the connection between mariachi and higher education.
"Really from the beginning, Bob's idea was always that mariachi in the schools would make the community more connected with the education that the kids were participating in," Nevin says.
The song we included at the end of our broadcast was "Para Decir Te Quiero," performed and composed by Mario Motta. You can find more of Motta's music here.
Follow this link for more information about the history of the Mariachi Scholarship Foundation.
