Pick Up a New Language (August/ September 2007) Gardening With a Latino Flair (May 2009)

The bridge to her Mexican heritage was a violin.

Mitzi German, 16, says she used to struggle with Spanish and couldn't relate to her grandmother's stories about life in Mexico. That changed last year when she enrolled in a mariachi class at her high school, playing violin. Suddenly, Mitzi and her grandmother, a devoted mariachi fan, had something in common.

"At home I used to always speak English," Mitzi says. "Now I'm talking with my grandma in Spanish...about songs."

While mariachi classes have traditionally been available in the Southwest, their popularity has spread to other states, such as Washington, Iowa, Georgia, and New York. Kids not only learn music, says Jonathan Clark of MENC: The National Association for Music Education. Mariachi can bring younger and older Latinos closer.

Mitzi—who listens to top mariachi recording artist Vicente Fernández on her iPod—says she now understands her grandmother's childhood stories.

"The hardships she's gone through," says Mitzi, "[are] inspirational."