Dear Friends,

It is an exciting week in Alaska!  The mushers and their sled dogs are getting ready for the big start of the race on Saturday and Sunday.  Last minute packing and planning is going on in the kennels.

Meanwhile, in Anchorage, a teachers’ conference is going on with three teachers who are super excited to be there, all finalists to be the 2024 Teacher on the Trail™!  What is a Teacher on the Trail™?  One teacher per year is chosen to travel by plane to Iditarod checkpoints, writing for teachers and students, being a reporter of sorts on the race.  To compete this week, the finalists present lessons, have outdoor challenges, go on field trips, help others, and have a blast with other teachers who love teaching the Iditarod!  One of them will be chosen by a committee to begin writing for teachers in June.

I found out why their students thought they should win.  Want to know?  

“All over her classroom, there is either a sled dog or something Iditarod themed.  She might love the Iditarod more than she loves us. She just LOVES the Iditarod.  Our reading is Iditarod themed; our writing is Iditarod themed, even our social studies can be Iditarod themed.  She deserves to be chosen.”  

“Because she is weirdly in LOVE with sled dogs and has wanted this for a long time.” 

“Because Mrs. Newmyer is an awesome teacher, and she says Iditarod in almost every sentence!” 

“I like that Keeli reads us Iditarod books and I learned that the dogs are friends and work like a team.”

“You helped us make our own musher bibs so we can play mushers.”

“You’re kind to us and you taught me about the Iditarod trail, and then we made a trail game.”

“I think that Ms. Andrea should be chosen to be the 2024 teacher on the trail for the Iditarod because every year she goes all out in teaching us about the Iditarod. For example, she decorates the classroom by putting signs representing all of the checkpoints on the trail.”

“I think Ms. Andrea should be chosen because of her love for the iditarod. She always talks about it to our class whenever there is time to. Another reason is that she helps us understand standards we don’t know yet. She has really helped me improve in reading.”

“Ms. Andrea has managed to incorporate the Iditarod into our learning targets to share what she loves with all us. Ms. Andrea has created a blog and a TikTok account so the her students can see what is happening while she is in Alaska and she can still teach us from that aspect.”

As you can see, these three teachers make learning extra fun by teaching their students about the Iditarod  and sled dogs.  For that, they are all winners to their students!

Until next time,

Gypsy