Wenatchee High School students are traveling across the state spreading happiness, cultural pride and hope for the future – all in the form of mariachi.

“I like being able to connect to an audience when you are singing and playing,” said Wenatchee High School Mariachi Huenachi band President Liliana Fausto. “Music is an international language that everyone can speak through.”

Mariachi Huenachi is a nationally award-winning high school band from Wenatchee that has played at Seattle Seahawks and Mariners games and shared the stage with the Grammy Award-winning Los Tigros del Norte. Last year the group performed at over 40 events and festivals.

They are coming to Orcas Center, Saturday, Feb. 1, 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 or $5 students and can be purchased at the Orcas Center Box office or online at www.orcascenter.org. The Lower Tavern will serve burgers at Orcas Center before the show starting at 5 p.m. Dinner is $15 for adults and $10 for kids.

The group plays mariachi music that originated in Mexico. This traditional folk music includes vocals, violins, trumpets, guitar and vihuela (also known as a “small guitar”).

The program started in 1998 and has grown every year since its inception.

There are a total of 300 students participating in the “mariachi” program at the high school. Starting in fourth grade, kids have a chance to start mastering their skills and can stay in the program until their senior year.

Yajayra Ramirez, now a junior, started playing violin in the fourth grade.

“Mariachi feels like a home,” she said. “The program has been my second family … it’s the best feelings… being able to trust in something in addition to your family.”

For band Director Ramon Rivera, mariachi gives students numerous   abilities including leadership, life skills and responsibility. Mariachi also helps to counter negative stereotypes about teens. Rivera has watched a pattern in society and media of casting off youth as thugs and criminals

“We don’t talk enough about the positive things kids are doing,” he said.

That’s why he teaches his students to be what he calls the “ambassadors of the youth.”

“When you see the band perform, you will see they are model citizens and performers,” he said. “We do have a good future, we can change our society for the better.”

He estimates that about 99 percent of the band is Hispanic, but anyone can join the band whether they speak Spanish or not.

Rivera has watched mariachi infiltrate the lives of students, not only making them better people, but diversifying their appreciation of music. In the classroom students listen to pop star Lady Gaga and their favorite mariachi tracks.

“They are keeping folk art alive,” he said. “The clash of the two cultures is coming together; I love it.”

For students like Fausto, playing in the mariachi band has helped her to carry on a family tradition. Her father is from Mexico and mariachi is the music he heard growing up. It was also a surprise to her parents that such a band would exist at a high school.

“I am fortunate I get to play it,” said Fausto. “Not many people have this gift.”

At the upcoming show, islanders will get a chance to see a performance from the advanced mariachi music class of the program, which includes 25 entertainers and a group of dancers.

“It’s exciting music to watch; it is high energy,” said Rivera. “There is a lot of soul in the music.”

For more info, visit www.whsmariachi.com.