Only a handful of school districts in Iowa offer mariachi music in their curriculum, and as of the 2022-2023 school year, Marshalltown has joined their ranks by offering lessons to middle and high school students.

While this has been a goal of the school district for quite some time, it has finally come to fruition. Miller Middle School is offering a more traditional approach to classes, with students meeting with Miller Instrumental Music Director Mary Potter every other day for 76 minutes. Marshalltown High School is approaching it more as a co-curricular, with students meeting MHS Band Director Brett Umthun only once a week for about 40 minutes.

Potter said they had been talking about putting together some kind of mariachi band program for several years, but it wasn’t something that could happen overnight since staffing was an issue. Recently, though, Lenihan Intermediate School Instrumental Music Teacher Jason Kirke was hired to help the band director there, which freed several staff members up to teach mariachi.

In order to be fully prepared to teach the unique music, the band directors in the MCSD, including Potter and Umthun, were sent out to a Mariachi Educators Workshop in Anaheim, Calif. for a week last spring. They learned about the genre and the instruments used to perform it, and come August, they were ready to take on the program. The district provided the necessary instruments, and they were off to the races.

Potter said the class at Miller is working on learning new instruments currently, which mostly consist of traditional string instruments like the vihuela and the guitarron, as well as violins and trumpets.

“I love it because it draws from the band department, the orchestra department and the choir department, because there’s some singing in mariachi music as well,” Potter said. “We’re learning these new instruments and then it’s just like any rehearsal. We’re rehearsing a couple of songs to perform soon hopefully.”

Miller students are enthusiastic about the class, according to Potter, and many Hispanic students already know the songs played in class.

“This music is not different for many of our students. It’s not like a different thing. Like, it’s a different thing to learn it in school, but they know it,” Potter said. “I pull out a song and they’re like ‘Oh, this is my grandfather’s favorite song,’ or I pull out a song called ‘Las Mañanitas’ and one of the kids just started singing it. Like, it’s not new to them. I’m learning a lot because it’s like they’re teaching me a lot about Hispanic culture and when they use this music and when it’s appropriate to play certain things, and things like that.”

Potter said the class not only allows Hispanic students to become more familiar with their culture while they learn, it also sparks “cultural conversations,” which Potter feels makes these classes even more important given the demographics in Marshalltown.

One of Potter’s favorite parts of the class is that she gets to make even more connections with students, and she has the opportunity to learn new things about Hispanic culture as well. While the class largely consists of Hispanic students, several Caucasian and Burmese students are also participating.

“I love that our mariachi ensemble reflects the demographics of the school district and of the community,” Potter said. “Music is music, and it’s wonderful to be able to connect with even more students through mariachi.”

At MHS, Umthun said students who sign up for the mariachi program are also in band, orchestra or choir, as they are required to also be a part of one of the other ensembles available at MHS to participate in the program. Umthun said they are currently working through several different songs and a method book to get more familiar with the music.

“The interest is really good. Kids are excited to do something new. Some students are learning a new instrument. Some students might know how to play guitar, but they’re switching over to vihuela, which is another primary instrument in the mariachi ensemble,” Umthun said. “I think the more we do it, the more exposure and interest that we’ll get.”

Currently, MHS has enough instruments for all interested students to be able to use one, but if there’s a large increase in interest, they may have to rotate them. For now though, they have enough to accommodate the 15 students currently participating.

Umthun has enjoyed being able to teach the lessons, and he’s excited that students are able to connect with another form of music.

“I think the enjoyable part is seeing students connect to another language and the history and the culture of the music. A lot of selections will have lyrics and singing involved, so it ties heavy into the emotional side and it’s very lyrical. A lot of the songs have deep meaning and are very important to the Hispanic culture, so I think that’s been really neat to see kids connect with that,” Umthun said.

In the future, Umthun sees the mariachi program expanding in the district. Two mariachi ensembles at the high school and expanding for sixth-grade participation, or for students even younger, are all future possibilities as the program grows.

He also hopes to bring MHS mariachi performances to areas throughout the community and the state, like other student mariachi groups around Iowa.

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Contact Susanna Meyer at 641-753-6611 or

smeyer@timesrepublican.com.