Mexican Heritage Corporation

Through its in-school and after-school Mariachi Youth Program, the Mexican Heritage Corporation provides culturally specific, bilingual arts instruction to underserved, primarily Hispanic, elementary and middle school students in the San Jose Unified School District, using curricula tied to state standards for music education. Hewlett Foundation support would enable the program to expand to five more schools during the grant period and introduce music technology labs with state-of-the-art, computer-based hardware with which students can compose, record, and perform original music.

The Mexican Heritage Corporation manages a slate of programs, including the San Jose International Mariachi Festival, Los Lupenos (a ballet folklorico company), and Mariachi Youth, a bilingual, standards-based program in the San Jose Unified School District. Renewed support for the Mariachi Youth program would potentially stabilize and grow the program, which has changed from an in-school program at several schools to its current format as an after-school program at a single school. Plans are under way to deliver the program in two schools in the 2013–14 school year, with the goal to return to an in-school residency model in four schools with the addition of a full-time teaching artist on staff. With fluctuating program quality, we recommend a final two-year grant for this program.