It has been a whirlwind of activity for me since arriving early Tuesday morning in Anchorage. I am excited to begin my journey as the 2016 Iditarod Teacher on the Trail™. I started off with a workshop from John Bailey and Google Earth. John mapped some of the beginning of the 2015 Iditarod in Fairbanks …
What do mushers see on the trail? In art classes, the Iditarod and the study of Alaska and the Arctic have been a special project this year. The students at Eanes Elementary School researched the geographic landscape and animals found along the trail and created amazing clay dioramas to represent what they found. The …
It is not long now before the Last Great Race on Earth®, and my students are spending time getting to know mushers and their teams. We learned a lot from Mary Helwig and her kennel, named after her beloved lead dog, Bravo. Mushers name their kennels for very personal reasons, and their kennel logo or brand …
Without further ado, my 2016 Iditarod Teacher on the Trail™ patch is here! The tradition for designing and wearing a patch on the trail has always been a special part of the Teacher on the Trail™ program. The teacher creates a personal logo on an embroidered patch to commemorate his or her year, and it …
In honor of Valentine’s Day and the Iditarod, my students and I worked together to write a special form of poetry called an ode. An ode is an exaggerated poem that celebrates something ordinary as extraordinary. They are great fun to write because they use figurative language, vivid verbs, expressive language, personification, and can be …
The Iditarod Summer Camp for Teachers is a remarkable opportunity to meet mushers at the volunteer picnic as they sign the dotted line and enter the Last Great Race on Earth®. I had the pleasure of meeting rookie musher Mary Helwig that day. I remember Mary casually mentioning to me that she had lost …
Puppies are the future for an Iditarod kennel. As the 2016 Iditarod draws near, we have been spending a great deal of time talking about husky dogs and learning all about them. We fell in love with veteran musher Matt Failor’s puppies this year after his Insider interview when Iditarod veteran “Cool Cat” gave birth to …
“How do sled dogs know where to go?” This simple question has been asked often in my classroom this year as my students learn more and more about the Iditarod. Mushers and their teams have a very special and trusting relationship, but how do they communicate on the trail with each other? For help …
At this point in the year, social media is buzzing with excitement as folks from all over the world cheer on their favorite mushers and dogs preparing for the greatest race on Earth. I cheer right along with them. Am I biased? I wanted to find out, so I decided to put my favorite sport …
*This post has been edited to reflect current 2022 data and available resources. Reading the actual Iditarod rules is a fascinating learning experience for any classroom teacher, and it is a very important process to understanding how the Last Great Race on Earth® is successful all the way from Anchorage to Nome. There are …
