With their bows resting beside them, Rector A. Jones Middle School violinists began plucking the instrument beneath their chins with their fingers.
A batch of trumpet players followed, before students cradling large ornate wooden guitarróns and smaller folk-style guitars called vihuelas, began strumming.
Eventually, the ensemble will blend to produce the song “Atotonilco” by Juan José Espinosa Guevara — a mariachi classic.
When Band Director Scott Reed tried launching a jazz band at Jones, a common offering at middle and high schools, it fell flat. But when he decided to scrap it in favor of a mariachi band, students flocked.
Now, Boone County School District’s Los Voladores Del Mariachi, the only public middle school mariachi ensemble in the state, has already more than doubled its roster of 15 students that participated when it launched last year.
“The kids that may be kind of marginal, or feel like they’re lost in the cracks, this gives them a sense of pride, that means something to them. And I think that’s why jazz band just didn’t really take off,” Reed said.
Of the school’s 746 students enrolled in 2024-25, 32.7% identified as Hispanic or Latino. Although many joined Jones’ mariachi band because it’s part of their heritage, it’s a blend of students from diverse backgrounds who joined for diverse reasons.
Reed, who is white, didn’t start the program as an expert on the genre — he never actually learned or taught mariachi until last year. But he’s a longtime trumpeter, his wife is a violinist and he wanted to create a space for his students to learn about their culture or someone else’s. Jones’ tapestry of student identities is clear from a first step into the school’s entryway, which is trimmed with flags from dozens of countries.
“I’ve been in a lot of schools and this has been my favorite place to teach,” Reed said. “I think the diversity has something to with that,” he said.
Getting started has meant building the plane while flying it.
“Last year I was staying a day or two ahead of the kids,” Reed said laughing.
One of his first moves was asking the local music store to help special order the mariachi instruments, which ended up costing around $20,000 in total. The summer before launching the band last school year, and again this year, Reed attended the National Mariachi Education Workshops, a weeklong conference in Las Vegas, Nevada to learn more about the music genre and how to teach it.
Both those things were made possible by grant money, Reed said.
During Reed’s mariachi band classes available to 7th and 8th graders, students learn both how to play instruments and their history. He’s noticed the program’s positive impact on attendance with students coming to school to play their instruments which live in the band room.
After one year, he was invited to present at the Kentucky Music Educators Association professional development conference about how to start a mariachi band.
Meet the band
Merli Ramirez, a 7th grader, is one of the students who joined because it represents her Hispanic culture and identity.
“It makes me feel comfortable playing and proud of myself,” Ramirez said.
Dylan Morales, a 7th grader who already plays trumpet, joined specifically because he really wanted to learn violin.
“I like the sound of it, it has a really clean sound,” he said.
“I wanted to make my momma proud,” said Christopher Ceboci, another 7th grader who joined the program.
He said his family often listens to mariachi when they’re cleaning up the house.
“It’s the only one in the state, so it makes me feel special,” Ceboci said.
It’s also just fun, something Kobe Sanchez, another 7th grader agrees with.
“It’s not hard, but it’s also not easy,” Sanchez said.
Manuel Cervantes, an 8th grader, said the class means a lot to him because his family members all play instruments, including his dad, who plays the mariachi staple, the vihuela.
“I feel I want to carry that on,” Cervantes said.
“If this goes well, there’s a chance of me joining a bigger group,” he said.
Mariachi-ng on
Reed has already heard from many of his former 8th grade students who graduated out of the ensemble last year, and no longer have a place to play mariachi.
This year, Reed wants to find a way to outfit the band with uniforms. He said it’s likely the full mariachi suits might be challenging and costly to source, but that he’s looking at options.
He also is dreaming up a mariachi festival, which would bring together the one other Kentucky public school band at Bryan Station High School, and two other programs at Berea College and the University of Louisville.
Reed, who also DJs on the side, has also found mariachi might be a real career pathway for students, considering the demand for mariachi bands he’s seen at local weddings.
“This is hard, and I’ve never worked harder than I have at this school, but to see these kids really get behind it, I think, and I hope, it’s going to continue to grow,” he said.