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Jim Deprez 2021 Teacher on the Trail
Susan Smith is not only a long-time Iditarod volunteer, but she is also a former Iditarod Teacher on the Trail™ finalist. She is a resident of the small Alaskan town of Takotna, and serves as both the principal and elementary teacher at the Takotna Community School. During her years as a volunteer she has …
Volunteers are absolutely vital to the success of Iditarod, and also part of what makes it so special. The race, simply put, would not be able to function without them. Because of this, I will be turning the spotlight on some of these unsung heroes of the Last Great Race. Beginning next school year, …
As educators, there are plenty of things that have been difficult when it comes to teaching during a pandemic. However, I have also been able to find some silver linings. Due to the fact that I live and teach thousands of miles away from the site of the Iditarod, I have set up several …
A huge congratulations to all of this year’s Junior Iditarod competitors. The future of mushing is bright, and today, these 10 juniors are the stars. The first to cross the finish line (unofficially) with all 10 dogs was Morgan Martens, who hails from Wisconsin. He ran some of Ryan Redington’s dogs and said …
Apparently the junior mushers were not the only ones ready to get moving; Mother Nature was too. At 9:59 (AKST), 1 minute before the start of the race a magnitude 5.3 earthquake shook Southcentral Alaska. According to the Alaska Earthquake center, it was an aftershock of the 7.1 earthquake that hit the area on …
Today is a big day for the junior racers! Vet checks begin this morning at 8am and go until noon, and then the mandatory musher meeting at 5:00 via ZOOM. Busy day before they head out tomorrow morning! Vet checks run the same way as Iditarod; each dog is carefully examined by a volunteer …
Junior Iditarod week is upon us! The Junior Iditarod is a great event that has helped pave the way for many mushers to go on and compete in the Last Great Race. It is a place to see the up and coming mushers and is a great sneak peek into the future of the …
It’s time to start gearing up for the big race on the 6th, and practice using some of the tools that are available! A great way to practice with your students is through the Junior Iditarod race THIS WEEKEND. The Junior Iditarod has a website set-up that closely mirrors the Iditarod website www.jriditarod.com. The …
“Training”, as I have learned, begins with relationships. This month, mushers are running some shorter races and working with their teams to ensure they are ready to go by the time Iditarod rolls around in a mere few weeks. From the mushers I spoke with, all of them attested to the fact that the …
One of the things that I love about the Iditarod is how naturally it can be made personal for our students. Each year, the one thing that really hooks my class is assigning a musher for each one of them to follow during the race. We use the Iditarod website to learn about our …