Elisa Gastellum, an 18‑year‑old Arizona teenager, was killed in a fatal car crash in June 2006 before she could move to Las Vegas with her brother, Javier.
Terri and Bob Gastellum launched the Elisa Gastellum Memorial Foundation that same month to support aspiring mariachi musicians in the city.
Since its inception, the foundation has awarded 27 scholarships, covering tuition, instruments, and conference fees. Ten of those recipients have gone on to become teachers, turning the scholarship into a pipeline of new educators.
Javier, who finally relocated to Las Vegas in 2008, teaches mariachi at Gibson Middle School, where he has spent two decades shaping the city’s next generation of performers. He says that teaching keeps Elisa’s memory alive for the students he mentors.
Ervin Garcia, a scholarship recipient, credits the foundation for making his college education affordable. He never met Elisa, but her legacy now echoes in his music.
The foundation’s model has created a self‑sustaining cycle, with scholarship recipients mentoring the next wave of mariachi musicians and keeping Elisa’s unfinished dream alive in classrooms across Las Vegas.