Joan Rosas says educators as early as kindergarten flat-out told him he wasn’t capable. “I got horrible grades,” he recalled. “I could barely read until eighth grade when I figured out how to teach myself.”

Now a sophomore at Inglewood High School, Rosas says he received little meaningful support for his learning challenges and, under those circumstances, grew to dislike school. Eventually, he began acting out, experimenting with smoking and other distractions.

Everything began to change when he picked up his older brother’s trombone. At first, he played casually, but that all changed after meeting band director Joseph Jauregui, affectionately known as Mr. J. Jauregui encouraged him to join the marching band, offering guidance and belief when few others had.

“A few lessons in and I was sold,” Rosas said. “Now as long as I have band, I don’t care. I’ll do whatever I have to do to stay in school and play.”

Inglewood—a suburb in Los Angeles County with its share of challenges, including socioeconomic hardship, community controversy over school closures, and fears surrounding immigration raids—might seem like an unlikely place for such transformation. Yet, for students like Rosas, band has become a powerful anchor.

Experts say programs like school music can provide stability and emotional safety amid chaos. “If there’s unpredictability in the school and the community, those can be risk factors in the lives of children,” said Angela J. Narayan, associate professor of clinical child psychology at the University of Denver. “The ideal is for school to serve as a protective factor, rather than another trauma.”

For Rosas, that protective factor is music—a rhythm that restored his confidence, purpose, and hope for the future.