Updated speaker and schedule information.

Learn how to harness the power of the Iditarod and sled dog racing to increase student engagement and drive in your classroom.  Add new gear to your classroom sled bag.  Broaden your repertoire of Iditarod lessons in a multitude of content areas and across a wide range of age and grade levels.  This is professional development you can’t get anywhere else – week prior to race start in Anchorage, Alaska.

Iditarod Education Department Winter Educators Conference

Lakefront Hotel Anchorage, Alaska

February 27th through March 1, 2024

And look at this!  University of Alaska 1 credit (optional)

​As teachers, you know the impact of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race – on teaching, on motivating, on providing authentic instruction, on inspiring, on creating excitement for learning.  Here is what you have been waiting for!  The annual Iditarod Educators’ Conference will showcase the resources the Iditarod Education department has for educators everywhere.

Your $600 conference registration includes:

• Tuesday is a fully-packed day of sessions on using the Iditarod in your classroom presented by our current and past Iditarod Teachers on the Trail™️and guest speakers Kate Newmyer (2023), Erin Montgomery (2015), Liz Millman – Return Dog Coordinator, Angie Taggart – educator and Iditarod finisher and view the Iditarod EDU Vet Check video.
• Tuesday lunch – mini “book fair”.  Featured authors Kristin Knight Pace, Pam Flowers, Ellen Redington, and EDU staff recommendations.
• Field Trip Day: Ride a chartered bus to Iditarod headquarters to watch pre-race vet checks first hand, have lunch, and then visit Travis Beals and Sarah Stokey’s Turning Heads Kennel in their new Knik location to meet the dogs!
• Thursday you will hear the newest lessons we have from our Iditarod Teacher on the Trail finalists, hear from Kattie Jo Deeter – Iditarod finisher, and learn the workings of Iditarod COMMS (race communications) from coordinator Jennifer Dowling.
• Your ticket to the Thursday evening Musher Meet and Greet before the banquet where you can talk with and get pictures and autographs of the 2024 mushers. Then enjoy the Musher Drawing Banquet and all of the fanfare.
• Friday morning workshop session, collaboration and writing lessons you can use the day you get back to school!  This lesson can double as part of your University of Alaska coursework. (more information coming)
• Friday morning (optional) ICE (Iditarod Certified Educator) training.  Here is a link to learn more about ICE: Iditarod Certified Educator
• Personal invitation to Jon Van Zyle’s 49th Annual Official Iditarod exhibition (1976 – 2024) at the GEORGIA BLUE GALLERY, Anchorage, from 5 to 7 P.M
• Volunteer room rates at the Lakefront Hotel which is Iditarod Headquarters during race time-be right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of race week!
• We are planning an informal get together Monday evening, February 26, 2024, (not included in nor required for  the conference.)

Rich in resources, professional development unique to the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, hands-on experiential learning you can immediately take back to your classroom. Follow this link:

2024 Iditarod Winter Educators Conference Registration

Email questions to Jane Holmes, Director of Education, at jane.holmes@iditarod.com.