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Teach and Learn
Engaging lessons based on Insider video clips.
Our four-legged correspondents write for all ages..
Collection of all things Iditarod.
Latest Teach and Learn Posts
Hello friends, No dog can become a K9 Journalist without reading a LOT of books. Many mushers began their Iditarod journey after reading a book by Gary Paulsen or Jack London. A few mushers have even written their own books. Want to know more? Check out the Iditarod Library for lists of books for all ages. …
The fire siren sounds in Nome to announce that a dog team is approaching Front Street. It wails for the champion, the Red Lantern and every musher in between. Family, handlers and fans put on their coats, boots, hats and mittens and gather at the burled arch to welcome another Iditarod finisher Approaching the burled …
Out in the middle of no-where on the Nome to Council Highway sits the Safety Roadhouse. Looking back toward White Mountain, you see nothing but a few hills and snow, looking toward Nome you see nothing but flat land and snow. Looking out over the Bering Sea, you see nothing except sea ice and ice …
When mushers leave Elim, they head along the shore to a spot called Walla Walla. Here the trail crosses a peninsula and climbs over the Kwiktalik Mountains. The highest point that the mushers reach is 1,000 feet above sea level at Little McKinley Trail expert, Don Bowers, says this the toughest climb on the last …
Elim, an Inupaig village of 310 people is situated on the south shore of the Seward Peninsula or north shore of Norton Bay. Elim (EE-lum) is 100 miles east of Nome as the crow flies. Like all bush villages, Elim isn’t connected by road to the rest of Alaska. The only way to travel into …
Each year teachers from around the world apply for the Iditarod Teacher on the Trail position. The process is long and complex starting with a portfolio submission, due December 1, which includes showcase lessons, experiences and background that are helpful to performing the tasks of the Teacher on the Trail, letters of support from districts …
A big thanks to all classrooms participating in the 2022 Trail Mail project. All spots are now filled. How exciting it will be for your class to get your envelope returned from Nome after having traveled the Iditarod 50th Anniversary Trail! If you’ve signed up, you will be getting next step instructions soon. And if …
Just out of Shaktoolik, teams will run through rolling tundra. Some of the villagers have reindeer herds that graze there. Once out on the sea ice, the great white expanse of Norton Bay can be overwhelming and confusing, especially in high winds. Don Bowers, Jr. calls the 50 mile section of trail from Shaktoolik to …
The village of Shaktoolik (shak-TOO-lick) is located on a little spit of land that juts out into the Norton Sound. There is one road that runs through town out to the air strip with houses, two stores, two churches, the school, the power plant, the city well, the clinic and the Armory spread along its …
The trail from Kaltag to Unalakleet (YOU-na-la-Kleet) follows a portage trail used by the Athabascans of the interior to travel to the Bering Coast to trade with the Inupiaq Eskimos. Russians also used the trail in their exploration and trading activities. Just 15 miles out of Kaltag, the mushers climb to 800 feet above sea level …