Mariachi STEAM AZ: Mesa summer program combines robotics and music

MESA, Ariz. - Robotics and music can actually go hand in hand. Kids will be able to learn just that thanks to a new after-school program in the Valley, but they need help to really make it sing.

Like a guitar, Renee and Carmen are getting everything in tune for the summer.

At the Cultural Coalition in Mesa, they've been using this space for low-income kids for the past 7 years.

"We provide them with a free meal from Saint Mary's Food Bank, help them with their homework, and give them an art experience," said Carmen Guerrero with Cultural Coalition.

Now, they're using guitars and violins to combine math and art in a new program for 20 kids called Mariachi STEAM.

"There's a lot of times you hear STEM and you forget about STEAM, and people forget that the arts are integral to science," said Renee Aguilar with Cultural Coalition. "The two work together and kind of inform each other."

They're using this space to combine robotics and music.

"It's a way for people to connect with their culture, their tradition, with multigenerations in their own family, and…keep them engaged in the lighter side of life – the things they find joy in," Aguilar said.

It's all possible thanks to a seed grant, but they need more for it to thrive in the fall. The 20 kids will balloon into more than 100 members, so more instruments and robotics equipment will be needed.

"Everything from guitars, violins, trumpets," said Aguilar.

Learn more: https://culturalcoalition.com/after-school-art-program/