2017 Iditarod Teacher on the Trail, Annie Kelley, at Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage

The 2017 Iditarod Teacher on the Trail, Annie Kelley, arrived in Anchorage June 17th for Iditarod Summer Teacher’s Camp. Annie is a fourth grade teacher from the Chicago area. The question I asked Annie today after she arrived in Anchorage was, “When did being the 2017 Iditarod Teacher on the Trail become real for you?” Annie replied, “When I saw my name listed as a presenter at the Midwest Musher Symposium and Teacher’s Conference Program held in the UP of Michigan and also when I did a teacher’s in-service for my school on using Iditarod in the classroom.” For the next year, Annie will serve as a resource for teachers using Iditarod as a theme for Education.    

Watch for more Telephoto Stories this week. The teacher’s will begin their ten days of Summer Camp at Vern Halter’s Dream a Dream Dog Farm and Musher Training Center connecting with like-minded colleagues who use Iditarod as a theme for education in classrooms around the world. The last Saturday of June is the volunteer picnic and musher sign-up for the 2017 Iditarod. Laura Wright, the 2016 Iditarod Teacher on the Trail, will pass the  Teacher on the Trail sleeping bag to Annie at the picnic and Annie’s responsibilities will officially begin.