de Colores

I made this video and wrote this story for the Oregonian about a town's first student mariachi band.

Hillsboro School District Mariachi band from Casey Parks on Vimeo.

HILLSBORO -- The Hillsboro student mariachi band already had played the Mexican folk song "De Colores" twice, but band leader Dan Bosshardt wanted to hear it one more time.

"Let me hear just the violins," he said. "Now the trumpets."

Bosshardt, who teaches music at Lincoln Street Elementary School, broke the song down to a few notes at a time, showing one student how to angle her wrist and another how quickly to strum his guitar.


"Next week is the super-most-important week in the history of Hillsboro mariachi," Bosshardt said. "It's our last chance to practice before the big day."

Joshua Arciga-Reyna, 17, fidgeted with his trumpet. Sometimes he hits a sour note, and he wanted the band to be perfect before its performance May 24 in front of the Hillsboro School Board. The board meeting is their chance to prove that the mariachi band is worth the district's investment, Arciga-Reyna said.

"It's an honor to perform in front of the school board," he said. "They're the bosses of all bosses. But I feel pressure, too. If we make a mistake, I worry they might think, 'So long, mariachi band.' I don't want that to happen."

Read the rest on Oregonlive.com