Nutrition programs for Arizona seniors will get a nearly $2 million boost through federal stimulus dollars released Wednesday.

The money will be used for meals at senior centers as well as those delivered to homebound elderly.

“We’re excited that on a national level, individuals know of the plight of seniors,” said Jim Murphy, chief executive of the Pima Council on Aging. “Our concern now is the state level.”

Arizona’s share is $1.3 million for meals served in such communal places as senior centers, as well as $657,147 for home-delivered meals, such as Meals on Wheels.

Diana Edwards, program director of the Pima Council on Aging, estimates that 15 percent of each of these amounts will go to Pima County.

A distribution formula based on several factors, including the number of people age 18 and over as well as the number of people with disabilities, will decide the exact amount the county gets.

The money comes from a $100 million infusion of stimulus dollars into the Older Americans Act. The state must provide a 15 percent match to trigger the federal dollars.

Officials with the state Department of Economic Security said they are working with various community groups to identify the needed matching dollars.

In Pima County, about 2,000 meals are delivered to homes and 2,100 congregate meals are served in senior homes a day, Murphy said.

The Arizona Republic contributed to this article.

Martha Chavez of Trinity Bookstore helps longtime customer Libby Grabert with religious cards.

Dena Ruggiero walked into Fr Kino’s Corner looking for a job and a little spiritual reinforcement.

“I think that the way the economy is, people are losing hope, losing faith. Places like this make me feel inspired,” she said.

Religious store owners in Tucson have noticed an increase in people coming in who have lost jobs, houses, financial stability and faith. Ruggiero, 43, and others struggling because of the economy are looking to religious stores for answers.

Ruggiero is a single mother of three young children. She had to move her family into a smaller home near Fr Kino’s Corner and thought she’d look for a job close to home.

“I would love to work in an environment like this. It would restore my faith and my hope.”

Andy Corder, 52, owner of Fr Kino’s Corner, 2716 S. Kolb Road, told Ruggiero he had no available jobs.

“A lot of people that have been away from the church for years are coming back because they are turning to the church to help with this time,” Corder said.

Many people are stepping into these stores for the first time and buying Bibles.

At Fr Kino’s Corner, Bibles are being spoken for before they get to the store.

Colleen Bridges, 46, has been working at Gospel Supplies Parable Christian Store, 5611 E. Speedway Blvd., since 2001.

Bible sales for the store have increased in the last six to eight months.

Out of every 10 transactions, about eight include a Bible, Bridges said. They are “helping people come back to the center, come back to what’s important in life.”

Although sales of expensive items have stalled, less expensive items are in high demand.

“As far as what we’ve seen in a shift of products, we see a lot more of the basics of the faith, the basic prayers, people grabbing back onto their faith at the basic level,” Corder said.

Popular items are rosaries, prayer books, prayer cards and candles.

At Fr Kino’s Corner, a book called “Pray the Rosary with Scripture Readings” costs $1.75 and is flying off the shelves.

Martha Chavez, 60, an employee at Trinity Bookstore, 3801 E. Fort Lowell Road, said that St. Joseph products are hard to keep in stock.

It is believed that burying a statue of the saint can help you sell your home. St. Joseph home-selling kits are increasingly popular.

At Casa De Inspiracion, 2536 E. Sixth St., co-owner Angie Lopez has noticed the increased popularity of other saints.

St. Martin de Porres is known for his charity for the poor and images of St. Hedwig show her holding a small house.

People are also stepping into religious stores to simply share their stories and find a place to pray.

“People will come in and sit down and just share. They find this very comforting because of all the saints,” Lopez said.

Lopez has noticed days when she is busy attending to people, but at the end of the day the money doesn’t add up.

Prayer requests are also pouring in, and Trinity Bookstore designated a prayer corner about eight months ago where people can leave slips of paper with their requests.

At Fr Kino’s Corner there is a prayer request box and the prayer corner has couches. “A lot of them are for employment and economic relief,” Corder said of the prayer requests.

Chavez has noticed that many people come in not to buy, but to look at statues, read books and listen to the religious music that plays throughout the store.

People say, “I love your store because it’s so peaceful in here,” Chavez said.

“If your world is falling apart the last thing you have is hope – hope and faith.”

A St. Joseph kit to help homeowners sell their home.

———

On the Web

Fr Kino’s Corner

www.frkinoscorner.com/

Parable Christian Stores

www.parable.com/parable/

Trinity Bookstore

www.trinitybookstoretucson.com/

Police are searching for a man who shot another man at a Diamond Shamrock gas station Thursday afternoon.

The victim, who was not identified by police, was taken to a hospital by Tucson Fire Department medics with “non-life-threatening injuries,” said Officer Linda Galindo, a Tucson police spokeswoman.

She did not have a description of either man.

She said the suspect fled the scene at Valencia Road and Campbell Avenue in a white Ford Mustang.

The confrontation began as a “verbal altercation that escalated into a shooting,” Galindo said.

No one else was hurt, she said.

Police got a 911 call from the gas station at 4:42 p.m. Galindo said. The victim was taken from the scene at about 5:25 p.m.

A Raytheon worker told the Citizen she was at the Diamond Shamrock getting gas when she saw a gunman fire multiple shots and flee.

The woman, whom the Citizen is not naming because she was a witness to the shooting, said the confrontation seemed to be between the two men.

Police were investigating Thursday evening and Galindo said no more details were available.

By Sheryl Kornman, Arianna Hermosillo

High school program about more than military

Catalina High School JROTC drill team members work on their skills.

On a basketball court outside Catalina High School, a few dozen students are transformed into the disciplined color guard and drill teams of Arizona’s 943rd JROTC Unit.

The members of Catalina’s Air Force Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps are practicing to defend their 2008 state championship at this year’s state drill meet April 18 at Alhambra High School in Phoenix.

But JROTC does more than turn teens into performers in uniform.

In Pima County, hundreds of young people have done better in school, developed confidence and leadership skills and volunteered in the community since the first unit was established at Flowing Wells High School 30 years ago.

JROTC probably kept Catalina senior Luis Chavez from following his older brother into jail.

Chavez, 17, admits that he “was a little thug” in middle school.

His mom, Maria Araujo, talked to her younger sons about joining JROTC after a teacher at Catalina who knew her boys suggested it.

Chavez joined when he was a freshman and is now corps commander, the highest ranking cadet, and a member of the 10-man Armed Drill Team.

Chavez’s two younger brothers, Ricardo, 15, and Francisco, 16, are also in JROTC.

“My mom saw the change it made in me,” Chavez said. “It made the same change in them.”

Says Araujo, 35: “They were taught respect.”

There are more than 700 students in JROTC units at five high schools in Pima County: Catalina and Cholla in Tucson Unified School District, Flowing Wells in the Flowing Wells district; Sahuarita in the Sahuarita district; and Desert View in the Sunnyside district.

The units at Catalina and Desert View are affiliated with the Air Force. Flowing Wells’ and Cholla’s are Army units. Sahuarita has a Naval JROTC.

Students take certain classes to complete the four-year JROTC curriculum. They get elective credit for JROTC classes.

JROTC is “strenuous academically,” said retired Master Sgt. Mark Wagner, instructor for the Catalina JROTC.

Students are pushed to have assignments in on time and academics are stressed.

Retired Maj. Robert De Witt, JROTC instructor at Flowing Wells, said that the discipline and respect that students learn in JROTC carry over to other aspects of school. Students respect their teachers, focus better and have fewer discipline problems.

They also have several opportunities for extra credit and have fewer bad grades than the general students population, De Witt said.

Students with F’s cannot take part in extracurricular JROTC activities, said Catalina senior Linette Reyes, 17, who has been in JROTC since her freshman year.

JROTC members also get valuable lessons outside the classroom.

“The cadets are in charge of everything that is done outside of academic instruction,” Wagner said. “They are given the opportunities to lead.”

Reyes, who wants to be a pilot in the military, said she’s benefited from that experience. She moved up the chain of command to corps commander first semester and was succeeded by Chavez second semester.

“It builds character to lead,” Reyes said. “You learn how to deal with people. You learn to grow up.”

JROTC also emphasizes community service. Cadets at Catalina have done food drives, neighborhood cleanups and volunteered with the Senior Olympics.

Students from Desert View help set up for the annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Tucson and direct parking for the race at El Con Mall. The Sahuarita JROTC cadets also perform community service.

“We want to make sure we are integrated with the community and make them proud of us,” said Joseph C. Battle, senior naval science instructor in Sahuarita’s JROTC.

Students who join JROTC are not obligated to join the military.

According to Catalina’s Wagner, only about 25 percent of his cadets move on to a military career.

At Flowing Wells, more than 65 percent of students in the program for three years go on to join the military, De Witt said.

Participating in JROTC can help students obtain nominations to national military academies such as West Point.

Joshua Linsell, 19, graduated from Catalina last year and is a freshman at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado.

“I really enjoyed the challenge,” Linsell said of his time in JROTC.

Linsell was 5 feet tall and weighed 100 pounds in high school. “I remember being so little, but always getting praise from people about how I could spin a rifle better than any other guy out there.”

Now 5 feet 6 inches and 130 pounds, Linsell says that being in JROTC taught him precision, timeliness, hard work and “valuable leadership qualities.”

“Any of my team members, I guarantee, will go far in life because of the things they learned as a member of the Catalina 10-man Armed Drill Team.”

Members of Catalina High School's JROTC drill team work on their gun toss. From left are Corbin Judstra, 16, Jesus Carrillo, 17, Luis Chavez, 17, and cadet Capt. Kenyon Azlin, 16 .

Catalina JROTC members march in formation. The school's program is affiliated with the Air Force.

Catalina High school JROTC members stand in formation as cadet Capt. Kenyon Azlin, 16 inspects them.

Catalina High School JROTC members march in formation as cadet Capt. Kenyon Azlin, 16 calls out the orders.

———

TUCSON JROTC PROGRAMS

School Branch Yr. started 2009#

Catalina Air Force 1994 81

Desert View Air Force 1994 206

Sahuarita Naval 2002 86

Flowing Wells Army 1979 225

Cholla Army 2005 130

Driving all-terrain vehicles is one of the popular pastimes in Puerto Peñasco, also known as Rocky Point.

Officials from Sonora, Mexico, met with University of Arizona President Robert N. Shelton and other university officials Thursday to assure them that students traveling to Sonora for spring break will be safe.

Last month, UA Dean of Students Carol Thompson sent an e-mail to all students to alert them about a travel advisory from the U.S. State Department warning of increased border violence related to Mexican drug wars.

The alert advised students to avoid traveling in Mexico during spring break.

Epifanio Salido, director of the Sonora office of tourism, said he believes the message was “misinformation.”

“It’s only to be aware, like being aware in Miami, like being aware in south Phoenix,” Salido said at a news conference at the Mexican Consulate here following the meeting with Shelton.

The Sonoran officials presented information to UA about how to travel safely in Mexico. The information includes a brochure with important phone numbers, such as 066 for emergencies and 078 if a car breaks down.

“The Sonoran representatives wanted to convey their sincere commitment to safety for students,” Thompson said.

Another meeting between Sonora and university officials and students is planned after spring break.

“We look forward to continued collaboration on binational issues that impact the university and the region,” said Johnny Cruz, director of media relations for the university.

The university’s spring break is March 14-22.

In past years, thousands of students have traveled to Mexican cities including Puerto Peñasco, also known as Rocky Point, which is about 212 miles from Tucson on the coast of the Gulf of California.

“What’s important is that the university opened the doors” to listen to officials’ concerns, Salido said.

Salido said 98 percent of tourists who visit Sonora are American.

Seventy-two percent of them are from Arizona and they spend about $100 a day while visiting, Salido said.

“That is why we are here, because of how important Arizona is for us,” Salido said. “Sonora is different from Tijuana. Sonora is different from Chihuahua. Sonora is safer for tourism.”

Macho B

The first jaguar to be captured, collared and released in Arizona was recaptured Monday and transported to the Phoenix Zoo, where it was euthanized.

Veterinarians determined the cat was in severe and unrecoverable kidney failure.

The 118-pound jaguar, Macho B, was first captured in southern Arizona on Feb. 18 by the department and fitted with a satellite-tracking collar to provide information on the animal’s location every three hours.

The collar, which weighs less than 2 pounds and was less than 2 percent of Macho B’s body weight, wasn’t expected to interfere with its movement or ability to hunt, a news release from the Arizona Game & Fish Department said.

Although early data from the days following its initial capture showed that the jaguar was healthy and had traveled more than three miles, recent data revealed a “reduced pattern of movement and foraging over the past three days,” the release said.

“While he was still moving around, we noticed a decreased level of activity over the weekend that warranted further investigation,” said Bill Van Pelt, the department’s birds and mammals program manager and a member of the Jaguar Conservation Team.

The department deployed a field team on Sunday to locate the jaguar and assess its condition. A first attempt to catch the jaguar was unsuccessful. The second attempt, on Monday, was successful.

The jaguar was believed by biologists to be 15 or 16 years old and the oldest known jaguar in the wild.

Department officials also believe it to be the same jaguar that has been photographed in Arizona for about 13 years.

The need to euthanize the animal was an “unfortunate and disappointing situation,” said Gary Hovatter, deputy director of Game & Fish.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ office is hosting two “Solar Power 101″ sessions.

One will be from 6 to 8 p.m. March 11 at Miller-Golf Links Library, 9640 E. Golf Links Road. To RSVP e-mail tamarack.little@mail.house.gov or call 881-3588.

The other will be from 10 a.m. to noon on March 14 at Tohono Chul Park, 7366 N. Paseo del Norte. E-mail rsvp@tohonochulpark.org or call 742-6455 Ext. 228 to RSVP by March 11.

Santa Cruz River Farmer’s Market has partnered with El Grupo Youth Cycling Club for its “Bike-to-the-Market” from 3 to 6 p.m. March 12

The event will be on the northeast corner of Speedway and Riverview boulevards, between the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind and El Rio Neighborhood Center.

The event is free and open to the public and will include free bike services from 4 to 6 p.m. for customers who bike to the market.

For more information, call Sara Rickard at 622-0525 Ext. 242.

Team roping

Team roping at the rodeo

The Mike Cervi Jr. Memorial Team Roping event at the Tucson Rodeo Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009

Producer: RENEE BRACAMONTE/Tucson Citizen

Slide 1 of 14.
Cowboys and their horses wait to compete in the holding area during the Mike Cervi Jr. Memorial Team Roping event at the Tucson Rodeo Wednesday/
Source: RENEE BRACAMONTE/Tucson CitizenSlide 2 of 14.
Cowboys hurry out of the gates competing during the Mike Cervi Jr. Memorial Team Roping event at the Tucson Rodeo.
Source: RENEE BRACAMONTE/Tucson CitizenSlide 3 of 14.
Cowboys hurry out of the gates competing during the Mike Cervi Jr. Memorial Team Roping event.
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Folks enjoy the Mike Cervi Jr. Memorial Team Roping event at the Tucson Rodeo Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009
Source: RENEE BRACAMONTE/Tucson CitizenSlide 5 of 14.
David Motes (right) and Paul Eaves rope a steer during the Mike Cervi Jr. Memorial Team Roping event at the Tucson Rodeo Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009
Source: Renee Bracamonte/Tucson CitizenSlide 6 of 14.
Cory Petska ropes a steer during the Mike Cervi Jr. Memorial Team Roping event.
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Clay Cooper ropes a steer during.
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Junior cowboy Dillon Bayne, 2, enjoys the competition.
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David Motes (right) and Paul Eaves rope a steer,
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Patrick Smith ropes a steer during the Mike Cervi Jr. Memorial Team Roping event at the Tucson Rodeo Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009.
Source: Renee Bracamonte/Tucson CitizenSlide 11 of 14.
David Motes (right) and Paul Eaves rope a steer during the Mike Cervi Jr. Memorial Team Roping event at the Tucson Rodeo Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009
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The crowd had everything from BBQ to Italian food to choose from.
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Cowboys and their horses wait to compete in the holding area.
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Saddled up and ready to go
Source: RENEE BRACAMONTE/Tucson Citizen

Related: Fun times at the 84th Tucson Rodeo Parade

Spectators watch the Tucson Rodeo Parade on South Park Avenue, just south of East Fair Street, on Thursday morning.

Samuel Niyimbabazi had never seen a rodeo parade before.

Actually, he hadn’t seen many horses at all in his seven years of life.

“There are no horses in the Congo,” said Samuel, who was wearing a 10-gallon hat on his tiny head.

Samuel moved from Congo to Tanzania and then to Tucson with his parents and brother two years ago.

He was at the 84th annual Tucson Rodeo Parade with Jim Hogan, a volunteer at an after-school program run by Abounding Grace Church that helps students with homework.

“Uh, that horse just peed,” Samuel told Hogan as the first set of horses crossed their path.

Hogan smiled. “You’ll see a lot worse than that before the parade is over,” he said.

And, of course, he did.

Samuel also liked the marching bands, and discovered they apparently are allowed to break from formation to avoid something brown, warm and gooey in the roadway.

Jasmine Valles, 3, might have had the best seat of all for the parade – atop the shoulders of her father, Mario Valles.

“That way she can see and I can keep track of her,” said her dad, who has been coming to the parade since he was a kid and now takes his wife, Monica Pederie, and their five children, who range from 3 months to 10 years old.

Gabriella Bustamante is only 2, but she was super-interested in “the horses, the princesses and the drums!” she said.

She especially liked a tiny pony that was at the start of the parade.

“I would like to ride that baby pony,” she said.

Most children appeared enthralled until about half way through the parade, when the adage, “If you’ve seen one (horse, marching band or wagon), you’ve seen them all,” appeared to be kicking in.

Kids were playing in the dirt and on rocks that were plentiful along the Park Avenue stretch of the parade.

For the most part, spectators abided by the rules, not sitting on the curbs and not crossing the street while the parade was in progress.

A woman from Colorado had a brief run-in with a police officer after she crossed Park to buy a soda from parents and students at Quail Run Elementary, who were raising money to send a cheerleading team to a national competition.

“I’m sorry,” said Lynnette Schindler. “This is my first Rodeo Parade. In Glenwood Springs, Colorado, we’ve had a Strawberry Days Parade for more than 100 years and you can always cross the street. I guess our parade and streets are a little smaller.”

By 11:20, parade participants had finished their route and turned into the Rodeo Grounds at Irvington Road and South Sixth Avenue.

Then the members of the crowd poured into the streets heading toward their cars. Some carried cushions, other carried lawn chairs. Some carried water bottles and others pushed babies in strollers, no doubt the next generation’s Rodeo Parade fans.

As the spectators walked away, Western fiddle music came over the public address system at the nearby grandstands, which had been nearly full during the parade.

Some spectators stayed to the very end.

Yasmine Andrade, 3, who was sitting in a chair eating a corn dog and playing with a plastic gun, was one of them.

She clapped enthusiastically for the eight city street cleaning vehicles cleaning up what the horses left as they passed in front of her.

Women from the Tucson Parks & Recreation Department wave to the crowd.

Junior cowboys Foster Richardell, 3, and Alex Sparks, 8, enjoy the parade.

Parade riders wave to the crowd.

The University of Arizona pom line walks in the Tucson Rodeo Parade.

A Tucson police officer directs a girl to the sidewalk.

Mario Valles and his daughter, Jasmine, at the parade

Park Avenue near Ajo Way fills up with people before the Rodeo Parade.

Members of the Cardena, Guttierrez and Aguirre families greet the sun Thursday morning after a 6 a.m. ride to Tucson's South Side to occupy cars left the night before along the Rodeo Parade route.

Tucson Rodeo

84th Annual La Fiesta de los Vaqueros

Producer: XAVIER GALLEGOS/Tucson Citizen

Slide 1 of 7.
Josh Daries from Salinas, Calif. with a no score in the Bull Riding event.
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Bryan Jones from Elko, Nev., with a score of 75 in the bareback.
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Trevor Thiel from Greeley, Colo. had a no score in the Tie Down Roping event.
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Brittany Pozzi-Pharr with a score of 17.43 in the Women's Barrel Racing.
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Erin Parsons from Marana with a time of 17.68 in the Women's Barrel Racing event.
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Bryce Miller from Buffalo, South Dakota with a 74 score in the Saddle Bronc event.
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Sonny Murphy with a no score in the Bull Riding event.
Source: XAVIER GALLEGOS/Tucson Citizen

By Mary Bustamante, Arianna Hermosillo, David L. Teibel

Tucson police stopped 2,300 drivers and made 26 driving-under-the-influence arrests during a sobriety checkpoint Saturday night, said Sgt. Mark Robinson, a spokesman.

The checkpoint was designed to “increase the awareness of motorists about the dangers of impaired drinking, deter those who may be impaired from driving, and detect and investigate DUI offenses at the checkpoint,” Robinson said in a news release.

The checkpoint was on West Valencia Road, west of South 12th Avenue.

Pima County sheriff’s deputies are searching for two suspects in an armed robbery, department spokeswoman Deputy Dawn M. Barkman said in a news release.

At about 6:20 a.m., Saturday, deputies responded to a robbery call at a Walgreens in the 7100 block of North Oracle Road.

One suspect was wearing all black and the other was wearing a white sweatshirt with a hood, the manager of the store told deputies.

Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or 88-CRIME.

Blaze at businesses that sell furniture, art, collectibles

Tucson firefighters lay lines at a fire Tuesday in the Lost Barrio at East Broadway and South Park Avenue. The cause is still under investigation.

A fire at a strip of businesses in the Lost Barrio at East Broadway Boulevard and South Park Avenue damaged at least two of “eight or 10″ stores in the area Tuesday afternoon, said Tucson Fire Department spokeswoman Capt. Trish Tracy.

She said the blaze caused an estimated $600,000 in damages. No one was injured, Tracy said.

Some of the shops are inside a red-brick building built in the early 1900s. Others are newer. None of the buildings had sprinkler systems, Tracy said.

The businesses, which sell furniture, art and collectibles from Mexico and Latin America, are in a building that extends from Broadway south to 13th Street.

Business partners Martha Mendivil and Gerardo Olmeda said they smelled smoke while closing their store, Aquí Está, 204 S. Park Ave., at about 5 p.m.

Olmeda said no one was in the building. Most of the shops were closed at 5 and he said two had not been open on Tuesday.

The three-alarm blaze brought 75 firefighters in 25 fire units to the scene. They fought the fire from the outside, shooting 500 gallons of water a minute from hoses onto the the roof of the building from ladders about 50 feet above the fire.

Thick smoke filled the area.

“I’m sad for everyone,” Mendivil said, after firefighters brought the blaze under control at 6:09 p.m. “All our beautiful things are gone,” she said as she waited for permission to assess the damage inside Aquí Está.

Tracy said the fire was reported at 5:16 p.m. and the first fire truck arrived at 5:18 p.m.

She said it is believed the fire started in the building at 228 S. Park Ave., in the center of the strip. The building extends from 200 to 350 S. Park Ave.

Tracy said that as of Tuesday evening the cause of the fire was unknown and an investigation was under way.

Guberto Platt, owner of Rustica, 200 S. Park Ave., at the north end of the strip, said he was closing up shop for the day at 5, when he heard fire engine sirens and saw smoke outside the building.

Platt said that in the 22 years he has operated his imported furniture store at his location, there had never been another fire.

Platt imports furniture from Mexico and Peru, selling retail and wholesale.

He said Tuesday he had no idea if his store was damaged but it appeared it was not. He said the fire started in a store in the middle of the strip and did not spread to the north end of the building.

Tracy said fire walls in between the stores kept the blaze from reaching other stores.

Firefighters work at the scene of the three-alarm fire along a strip of businesses. Tucson Fire Department spokeswoman Capt. Trish Tracy said the fire damaged at least two stores.

Firefighters spray water onto the roof of the building, 50 feet above the blaze.

Lost Barrio fire

Fire does $600,000 at Lost Barrio Wednesday evening. The cause is under investigation.

Producer: JUDY CARLOCK/Tucson Citien

Slide 1 of 8.
Tucson firefighters battle the blaze.
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A Tucson Fire Department fireman lays line.
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Spraying down the site at 5:30 p.m. at the fire, wouthwest of South Park Avenue and East 12th Street.
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A view from the side.
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A front view of the Lost Barrio block, an old warehouse converted to furniture stores.
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Spraying down the scene as the blaze comes under control.
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Three firefighters work the scene.
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Fire Chief Patrick Kelly (in white shirt) with firefighters.
Source: VAL CANEZ/Tucson Citizen

By Sheryl Kornman, Arianna Hermosillo

Elementary pupils getting help learning Chinese from Cholla, Tucson High students

Tucson High seniors Alyssa Dolby and Eric Gee teach Chinese numbers and the days of the week to fifth-graders at Roskruge Bilingual Elementary School. The two seniors are second-year students of Chinese and attended Roskruge.

Students from Tucson and Cholla high magnet schools are stepping into classrooms, not as students but as teachers.

Kimberly Gaskill teaches Chinese at both high schools and her second-year students are teaching classes at Andy Tolson and Roskruge bilingual elementary schools.

Cholla High students go every Thursday afternoon to Gina Teixeira’s second-grade class at Tolson, 1000 S. Greasewood Road.

Gaskill’s Tucson High students walk every Friday morning to Roskruge, 501 E. Sixth St., and teach in Aida Garcia-Iniguez’s fifth-grade class.

Gaskill said the idea came from participating in the STARTALK program.

STARTALK is a program for teachers and students of Chinese and Arabic. Gaskill participated in the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University/Arizona State University program in July. STARTALK is held at different universities across the country and gives teachers classroom strategies.

“My principals were really eager,” Gaskill said.

Her students teach the culture and academics of subjects that they have already learned.

Katherine Ornelas, 18, a senior at Cholla, taught Teixiera’s class how to say the words for different relatives including grandfather, mother and little sister, and she had the students draw their own family trees.

“I think they’re having fun learning,” Ornelas, said. “That’s what’s really cool about it.”

Students from Cholla have been going to Tolson since October.

Teixeira’s class began with a whole unit on China and learned phrases like, “Hi, my name is.”

“It’s kind of hard, but it’s fun,” Sophia Pappas, 8, said.

Teixeira’s class was chosen for a trial period of the program, but the school would like to have the entire second grade learning Chinese, Teixeira said.

Students from Tucson High began teaching at Roskruge in January.

Fifth-grade teacher Aida Garcia-Iniguez was approached by administrators with the idea.

“You don’t get this opportunity all the time,” Garcia-Iniguez said.

Eric Gee, 17, and Alyssa Dolby, 18, both seniors at Tucson High, reviewed numbers in Chinese and taught her class how to say the date.

“I was really nervous personally,” Gee said.

Now they both wouldn’t mind going back.

“It’s fun to learn another language,” Angelica Moperi, 10, said. Garcia-Iniguez’s students also have lessons in Spanish literacy every Thursday and Friday.

“My high school kids have all been a little ambivalent … but I think the kids are also learning about classroom management and what their teachers have to go through everyday,” Gaskill said.

“I had a couple of boys come back and they’re like, ‘It took those kids a half hour to write their names in Chinese characters!’ ”

Students brainstorm before school and work with Gaskill to come up with a lesson plan.

Gaskill has been talking to other Chinese teachers in the district about expanding the program.

“Especially now, you know, with all the budget cuts and everything, it is still a chance for our kids to have language at schools, even though the money may not allow for it right now.”

She said it is by no means a substitute for having teachers in the classroom, “but it is a jumping point and hopefully something to get the kids interested and wanting to take the language when they get to high school.”

Alan Murrillo, a fifth-grader at Roskruge, raises his hand during a class taught by Dolby and Gee, who reviewed numbers in Chinese and taught the class how to say the date in Chinese.

Students from Tucson High began teaching at Roskruge in January.

Sammie Parker shows a sketch of the Tucson Buffalo Soldier Monument by local artist Robert Jackson.

The Tucson Buffalo Soldier Monument Committee will hold a dedication ceremony at 1 p.m. Saturday for a monument that will honor Buffalo Soldiers. The dedication is part of the African American Heritage Celebration event at Quincie Douglas Library, 1575 E. 36th St.

The Buffalo Soldiers were members of the all-black 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments sent to the West after the Civil War.

They helped shape the history of the West through the Spanish-American War. The 10th spent time in Arizona in the 1880s as part of the effort to capture Apaches who had illegally left their reservation, including Geronimo.

The ceremony will “specifically bring awareness to the monument,” said Sammie Parker, chairman of the committee. “As much work as these men did, they deserve something.”

A sketch of the monument by local artist Robert Jackson will be unveiled and a brief presentation on the Buffalo Soldiers will be given.

In 2006, Parker, 56, spearheaded planning for the monument, to be built on land north of Quincie Douglas Library.

Parker and South Tucson City Court Judge Ronald Wilson created the monument’s basic design.

Denver Sculptor Ed Dwight, known for his work on African-American history and culture, was asked to do the project by Parker. Dwight estimated the monument will cost $1 million.

Half of the money still needs to be raised.

Donations for the project have come from several sources, Parker said.

Parker has worked with Quincie Douglas Library Manager Elba Smithwhite to raise awareness of the project.

Smithwhite said she was researching Buffalo Soldier historical groups when she read about the monument committee and realized that the monument was going to be built near her library.

The monument will likely be 100 feet by 100 feet and will sit outside a glass wall of the library. It will have a large statue of Col. Charles Young, one of the first black graduates of West Point and an officer in 9th and 10th cavalries. There will be smaller statues of other Buffalo Soldiers and two history walls.

“African-Americans were major contributors to the West. They were left out of the history books. I would like to put them in the history books and I’m not a writer, but I can build a monument,” Parker said.

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More about Buffalo Soldiers

For more information about the Tucson Buffalo Soldiers Monument, go to www.buffalosoldiermonument.com