Grammy winning LA band Ozomatli visits Lynwood school to celebrate the arts

LYNWOOD, Calif. (KABC) -- A lot of jumping, singing and dancing happened Tuesday at Washington Elementary School in Lynwood. Students and faculty welcomed Grammy award winning musicians from the L.A. band, Ozomatli.

Band members toured the school, met with students, answered questions and of course ended the day with a concert.

"We're lucky enough to have some music classes, but this is front and center," said Susana Helmers, a sixth-grade teacher at Washington Elementary. "They get full on professional musicians up front and talking to them and being frank and sincere."

Washington Elementary is one of two schools in Lynwood along with 22 more across California working with Turnaround Arts, a nonprofit organization that helps schools put emphasis on the arts. Some students said they were inspired after hearing the group speak to them.

"They talked about what they've done with their careers," said Gabriel Lomeli, a sixth-grade student at the school. "And it was cool because the places they went to and what they've done with their careers."

"It was really inspiring to hear about where they've traveled and what they do," said Aliyah Nuila, another sixth grader.

With majority of the bandmates being from L.A. and growing up in the L.A. Unified school system, they understand the importance in giving back to their community.

"I think the arts in schools is important because it helps exercise that muscle in all of us as human beings to think outside of the box," said Asdru Sierra, a vocalist and trumpet player in the group. "Math, calculus, everything's great, but even Einstein played violin."

"We remember what it was like and we remember that we got encouraged by older people to follow that," said Raul Pacheco, a vocalist and guitarist in Ozomatli. "So, I think if anybody has those ideas, we can encourage them to go for that."

Band members of Ozomatli said they do a few visits like this a year and they see the impact they have on the young students. They say they will continue to speak at schools as much as they can in the future.