CHICAGO (WLS) — Benito Juarez High School in Pilsen is the only Chicago Public School that offers Mariachi as a class.

Since 1994, the school has been building the next generation of Mariachi stars.

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“Music, especially Mariachi, it brings a lot of people together,” said Analilyn Cervantes.

Cervantes is a junior who plays the violin with the Mariachi Águilas de Benito Juarez Community Academy.

It’s important for me to be part of this program because my family comes from a long line of musicians,” said Cervantes. “My grandpa and my mom are in a Mariachi band, and I want to be part of that band too.”

Guiding the students is music educator Michael Espinosa. He took over teaching this special accredited Mariachi class in 2016.

“The goal isn’t to like, have the best ensemble, or to have the, you know, the biggest funded ensemble,” said Espinosa. “All those would be great things, but it’s to have opportunities for students to experience the music.”

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This involves demonstrating to students how this centuries-old tradition has evolved.

“I show them how some Mariachi musicians and groups are pushing the envelope and playing like video game music, how they’re playing famous rock songs, how they’re doing all kinds of stuff that you’re like, that’s not Mariachi,” said Espinosa. “You’re adapting into that next level.”

“He (Espinosa) pushes us to learn new instruments,” said member Marisol Santos. “My whole life I’ve been playing guitar, but last year at the end of the year, he’s like, oh, I want you to learn how to play trumpet. So that’s what I’ve been doing.”

And the students are highly sought after for performances.

“When I perform, and I see that the people like laugh or like, they’re like, excited to hear us play. It like fills me with joy, because I know they like what we’re doing, and it just pushes me to want to do more,” said Santos.

“When I see the people’s reactions – It gets them thinking of like memories of their family or like, their loved ones – and that’s just beautiful,” said member Ella Mijares. “You can always connect music to family,”

Espinosa said the group is so popular, they actually have to turn down gigs-because at the end of the day, these are still students who have school work to focus on.

There next performance is Saturday at the American Airlines terminal at O’Hare from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.