Goal for McCaw School of Mines: Expanding reach

The McCaw School of Mines welcomed its 100,000th visitor on April 30, but the educational attraction in Henderson has its sights set on even bigger treasure.

Within the next year or two, the museum hopes to add new exhibits and expand its reach by opening to the public for self-guided tours. It might even open up for corporate retreats, weddings and other special events.

“There’s a lot of a potential,” said Phil Luna, executive director for the nonprofit attraction. “We’re just trying to do it strategically.”

Since it was founded in 1996, McCaw has mostly served as a field trip destination for valley fourth-graders, who learn about Nevada’s mining history while panning for gold and exploring a simulated mine shaft.

Tucked away in downtown Henderson, the 1.4-acre museum also features a visitor center and a collection of old mining equipment.

Luna said McCaw generally opens its gates to one busload of kids each weekday during its tour season, which runs from about Oct. 1 through late May.

From minors to miners

Though the Clark County School District accounts for most of the tours, Luna said about one-third of their visitors come from private schools, scout troops and other outside groups.

Bill Durbin is one of about a dozen regular volunteer tour guides at the museum.

Before he retired in 2016, he worked as chief of Southern Nevada operations for the Nevada Division of Minerals. He also helped develop some of the exhibits at McCaw and spent 14 years on the museum’s foundation board.

Durbin said he knows of a handful of people who toured McCaw as kids and later went to real mining schools such as the University of Nevada, Reno’s Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering on their way to careers in the industry.

Funded with donations

To help with the busy tours schedule, the museum also has recruited and trained a small army of fourth- and fifth-graders from McCaw STEAM Academy, the elementary school next door.

Luna said they have about 40 of student tour guides, known as Mighty Miners, at their disposal.

The idea for a “school of mines” began at what is now McCaw STEAM Academy more than 20 years ago, when a group of teachers decided to enhance their Nevada history lessons by building a papier-mache mine shaft in one of their classrooms.

That led to the creation of permanent exhibits on campus and, eventually, a nonprofit foundation to run them.

Everything you see today at McCaw was built with donations and without the need for any money from the school district. Even the field trips are free for district schools. Luna said McCaw uses donated funds to reimburse the district for its transportation costs.

Vegas Verdes Elementary School teacher Paula Rubanov escorted 22 fourth-grade students to McCaw on a recent Thursday. It was her first visit to the museum, and she said its exhibits paired perfectly with the Nevada history lessons her fourth-graders were getting.

“The kids are having fun, and they’re totally engaged in learning,” Rubanov said. “I’m loving it.”

New exhibits planned

Luna said the new exhibits now being planned will focus on modern mining in Nevada and the career opportunities it provides.

“We’d like to put more emphasis on that,” Luna said.

So would McCaw’s three biggest donors: Barrick Gold, Newmont Mining Corporation and Kinross Gold Corporation.

Luna said Nevada’s leading mining companies and their contractors have long supported the museum because of the role it plays in teaching young people about one of the state’s most important and influential industries — past and present.

Now the McCaw School of Mines is looking to deliver that message to an even bigger audience.

“We’ll always have the school district tours. That’s why we were started,” Luna said. “We’re looking to move in the direction of being able to open to the public. We’d like to become a family friendly destination.”

Contact Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350. Follow @RefriedBrean on Twitter.