Thursday, May 5, 2005 | 8:15 a.m.
Something clicked for Carlos Valenzuela the first time he saw Rancho High School's student mariachi band perform.
"I was in the orchestra, but when I saw the mariachis, it blew me away," Valenzuela, a sophomore at Rancho, said. "I thought, 'That's my tradition, a Mexican tradition.'"
On Tuesday, Valenzuela beamed as he sang and played violin at a performance celebrating the Clark County School District's popular Secondary Mariachi Education Program.
Held two days before Cinco de Mayo, the event brought together more than 50 student musicians from host Rancho, Desert Pines High School, Jim Bridger Middle School and J.D. Smith Middle School.
An enthusiastic crowd yelped and cheered during the group's songs and rose to their feet when Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., came forward to address the room.
Reid has come under fire in recent months from several congressional spending watchdog organizations, which have questioned a $25,000 federal allocation for the district's mariachi program.
"I've received lots of criticism the past eight months for having placed a small amount of money ... for mariachi education," Reid said. "But you know, I never doubted I did the right thing. And being here tonight, I know I'm right."
Taking off
More than 1,200 area students are enrolled in the district's mariachi classes, about three times the number involved when the program started in 2002.
Courses are offered at five high schools and five middle schools, with four additional campuses expected to participate beginning in the fall. Soon, a staff of seven mariachi teachers is slated to grow to 11 or 12.
"It's just growing and growing, far beyond what we expected," said Richard Pacheco, mariachi director at Desert Pines High School. "We never thought it would be this far along."
Modern mariachi music dates back to the 19th century, when it became prevalent in the Mexican states of Jalisco and Nayarit.
Songs are typically festive and upbeat, and are played by groups featuring violin, trumpet, acoustic guitar, vihuela (acoustic tenor-pitched guitar) and guitarron (acoustic six-string bass). Most mariachis also sing.
Sam Sheffer, a seventh grader at Bridger, enrolled in the mariachi program because the instruments appealed to him.
"I wanted to play these guitars, so I got into it," Sheffer, 12, said. "Now I get to go places to play. This will be something I'll always remember. It will be with me all my life."
Laverne Delgado, a junior at Desert Pines, has an older brother who played in the school's mariachi ensemble before graduating. Today she views the program as an extension of her family.
"I've made my friends here," Delgado, 16, said. "We're kind of like a family now, a mariachi family."
Students who maintain grade-point averages of 3.0 or higher can participate in mariachi performances, such as a May 20 concert at Desert Pines slated to include groups representing all 10 schools in the program.
During such appearances, students dress in traditional mariachi costumes, namely the traje de charro -- a waist-length jacket and wool pants with either embroidered designs or silver buttons along the legs.
Tuesday's event also featured Rancho's ballet folklorico dancers, who performed traditional Mexican routines in colorful dresses. Javier Trujillo, founder and project facilitator for the Clark County program, said the district intends to add dance to the mariachi curriculum in 2007.
The district's mariachi teachers also perform around Southern Nevada as professional group Mariachi Plata de Las Vegas. The seven-piece band plays the courtyard at UNLV's Dayton Complex at 8 tonight.
'Role model'
More than 500 public schools in the United States offer mariachi instruction, according to a recent New York Times article. Trujillo said Southern Nevada's program is second to none.
"The Clark County School District has become the role model nationally for mariachi education," said Trujillo, who also serves as a touring member of renowned Orlando-based professional group Mariachi Cobre.
Trujillo said he was saddened when groups such as Taxpayers for Common Sense and Citizens Against Government Waste attacked Congress' $25,000 appropriation to the district's mariachi program.
The latter group awarded Nevada with a "La Pork-a-Racha" award, a designation Trujillo called "racist."
"This is a racial slur, and it's very saddening to see that," Trujillo said. "This program is education. It's music education. And it has the same impact on the students' lives as orchestra, band, choir and sports."
Agreed Adalberto Garcia, mariachi director at Bridger: "Every day they want to play music before school, during lunch, after school ... They want to play all the time. And they look forward to going to school every day."
Valenzuela certainly does. A year ago his grade-point average hovered near 2.7. Now he maintains a 3.2 GPA and, more important, has a newfound enthusiasm for academics.
"At first I thought you go to school just to get a diploma," said Valenzuela, who hopes to become a professional mariachi. "Now I come to school for this. This is my life now."
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