Carrillo Intermediate Magnet School students Emma Barrett, 9, and Jacob Mejias, 10, pause in front of the El Tiradito shrine during their practice tour. La Pilita Museum will receive two awards in Phoenix on Saturday from the American Association for State and Local History. Carrillo students serve as docents for the museum and were instrumental in its recognition.

A.E. Araiza / Arizona Daily Star

Other articles by Shelley Shelton:

Soda-can tabs add up for ailing kids Red Rock: bliss in the booniesRed Rock is growing up Community notes Caring for little ones is a big job Marana lauds two long-timers Budget gets council's OK, but not without some cuts Public is welcome here Town puts in place new ethics policy Community notes

Administrative & Professional
Jorgensen Brooks Group
Counselor Sales and Marketing
Everready Glass
Sales Reps Health Care
CENTRAL ARIZONA COLLEGE
DIRECTOR OF HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT Finance and Accounting
Charles E. Gillman Company
Accounting Specialist Health Care
Dependable Health Services
Physical Therapists Health Care
Sierra Tucson
Eating Disorders Program Coordinator Construction
West-Press
Printing

WOW. No, really.

La Pilita Museum will be honored Saturday in Phoenix by the American Association for State and Local History with two awards.

The first, an Award of Merit from the Leadership in History Awards, is the most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history, say Carol Cribbet-Bell and Joan Daniels, the women who run the tiny establishment. Across the country, 85 organizations and individuals are receiving the award this year.

The second award is simply called the WOW Award and is given at the discretion of the awards committee. Only 5 percent of the total number of Award of Merit winners can receive the WOW Award.

This year, there were just four recipients.

Wow, say the Carrillo Intermediate Magnet School students who, as museum docents, are instrumental in the museum's recognition. Carrillo is across the street from the museum, 420 S. Main Ave..

"We were really excited once the news came out (about the award). We were yelling and dancing," said Jacob Mejias, 10, who is in his third year of the after-school docent program.

The museum has become a sort of treasure house for all things related to one of Tucson's oldest neighborhoods, Barrio Viejo, which literally translated means "old neighborhood."

Students work in the museum to learn about area history through folklore, theater and fact.

"They're learning about the history of their town and specifically the area they live in," said Faye West, Carrillo principal.

West came to Carrillo a year ago and says she is "completely impressed" with the program, which teaches the children history by building their art, writing and presentation skills.

The docent program is part of the school's extended-day program and is paid for by its magnet-school grant, she said. As such, it doesn't cost the parents anything for their children to head over to the little building — it was once a home and later a restaurant — to spend an hour after school several times a week.

For the students to become certified as "master docents" like Jacob, they must complete a series of tasks that museum staff signs off on, including working in the little gift shop, tending the garden and learning about the exhibits. Until then, they are docents-in-training.

In the process, they learn that the site where their school stands was once a recreation area with a lake, and they discover that an earthquake rocked Tucson in the late 1800s.

Working in the museum has been different from how many of the children imagined it.

Jessica Butcher, 10, said she thought museum work was mainly dusting and cleaning the exhibits.

Jacob thought it was all about giving tours.

Victoria Villanueva, 10, thought a museum had to be "really, really big."

Julieta Hernandez, 10, didn't think it would be fun. She has since changed her mind, she said.

"There's different things to do and learn in this museum. There's a lot of history that took place in this area, so I think this is kind of a special museum."

Danielle Leyva, 12, thought it would all be fun.

"We do have to take care," she said.

The children eagerly grabbed their plastic tour boxes as they led the way on a shortened version of the tours they usually give.

Danielle and Jessica explained the meanings behind some of the imagery in a mural on the south wall of the museum building.

To the west of the museum, at its rear, Julieta described the spring that once ran through the lot, opening her tour box to produce a wooden toothbrush and shaving brush similar to the ones men once used at a public bath at the site.

Jacob led the way to his favorite part of the museum, El Tiradito wishing shrine, on the building's north side.

As visitors crossed into the area where El Tiradito stands, he cautioned them not to speak because they were entering a sacred area.

Because El Tiradito was placed on the National Register of Historic places in the 1970s, local residents were able to defeat a plan to build an expressway where their neighborhood still stands.

Jacob's mother, Michelle Mejias, said she is thrilled that her son is learning a part of family history that skipped her.

Mejias' older siblings grew up in the area, but the family moved when she was just 3.

Now Jacob and his grandmother bond while discussing the old neighborhood, Mejias said.

"So much of it is going away now. My family lived it and breathed it, and they were poor but they were happy."

Central