Friday started with a talk from some important people in the Iditarod organization. Rob Urbach, CEO of the Iditarod, started things off and spoke about the direction and future of Iditarod. He also talked about the Iditaread program and its importance, especially here in Alaska. 

Mark Nordman, long time Race Marshal, followed. He shared various tidbits about logistics, including the struggles facing the IAF pilots today due to weather conditions. He talked about the trail crews distributing 15,300 stakes along the trail and how they will be staying about 3 days ahead of the dog teams on the trail this year. Finally, he stated that the villages are very excited, and ready to welcome the race back to the interior and west coast of the state after the trail was altered last year.

Udo Cassee was the next presenter representing the IAF (Iditarod Air Force), the group of volunteer pilots who help make this race possible. He talked about the IAF pilots and some of their duties. As a group, they will log 1000-1500 hours of flight time during the race this year. It is also interesting to note that IAF pilots do not fly at night for safety reasons. When asked about the motivation for pilots to continue to volunteer, he said most of the pilots started out just so that they could fly. But they continue to return each year because of the camaraderie that has developed amongst the pilots. 

Finally, Reese Roberts representing the COMMS department discussed their role in the race. A paramedic during his non-Iditarod time, he shared the gear and equipment used during the race with the conference participants. 

As today marks the end of the (presentation portion of the) 2022 Iditarod Educator Winter Conference, I want to take the time to look back at some of the incredible projects and programs that were shared this week and highlight a few of them. As all of these projects are closed for the current year, but will be returning for the academic year next year. 

Teachers: See the continued write-up below for some incredible opportunities for your students next year.

On Monday, Jen Reiter (2014 Teacher on the Trail™) and Annie Kelley (2017 Teacher on the Trail™) introduced the first 3 programs offered through Iditarod EDU. 

The Iditarod Quilt Project: 

After 10+ years of this project, there are now more than a dozen quilts zigzagging their way across the country and visiting numerous classrooms each year. To date, the quilts have been seen by nearly 10,000 students nationwide at all levels, from Kindergarten through 12th grade. Each quilt is very different from the next, and includes everything from character traits and development to math, inspirational quotes and everything in between. These quilts can be used to build lessons from, as discussion pieces, or simply to have students use as their inspiration to learn more about the Iditarod and the great sport of dog sled racing. Signups for this project will come out around June. 

If you have any questions about this, or are interested in creating your own square with your class, email Annie at iditarodquiltproject@gmail.com

Iditarod Trail Mail Project:

The Trail Mail project is one that I have had my students participate in for the last 2 years. I love the connection and desire to get back to the roots of mushing that goes along with this. As it states on one of the posts for the current race “To honor the Historic Iditarod Trail’s use as a mail trail, each musher will carry a cachet of mail down the trail as a part of our revamped Educational Trail Mail project.” However, this program actually has 2 separate components.

The first part is an art contest. Each year, students in grades 5-12 may submit a piece of original art work to the selection committee, which includes Iditarod artist Jon Van Zyle. A high-resolution scan or picture can be submitted in any art medium. Look for an announcement about this project in early September of 2022. 

The second part involves your class creating something that will be sent down the trail in one of the musher’s sleds. As a group, each class will send 1 piece of paper down the trail. Your class can be as creative as possible for this one. It can be as simple as a letter that each student helps to write and then sign. It can be a poem, a picture, words of support or inspiration; truly, the sky is the limit. When it gets mailed back, it will have the signature of the musher who carried it, and stamped with the trail mail seal. Signups for this should begin towards the beginning of November. 

Postcard Project:

Looking for a great way to have your class get involved with other classes around the country? Interested in having your students practice some quick letter writing? This project might be exactly what you are looking for! As this stated on a post, “If you join the project, you are committing to sending postcards to each class on the list between the start of school and when the first musher leaves the Iditarod starting line on the first Saturday in March! Last year we didn’t quite get every state and we had a couple of doubles, but we will try our hardest to keep the list between 50 and 60 spots. Your postcard should tell everyone what your state dog is and any other interesting state facts you may want to share!”

If you are interested in joining the program, please email Jenreiter2014@gmail.com as soon as possible. Only one class from each state will be represented, so be on the lookout for that signup in late summer. 

Later in the week, these final 2 programs were discussed:

Iditarod EDU on TikTok

In case you missed previous announcements about this, Erin Montgomery (2015 Teacher on the Trail™) has undertaken the launch of an Iditarod EDU TikTok page. This will feature everything from informational videos, to more “fun” posts, and on Tuesdays, there will usually be a lesson feature that teachers can use in their classrooms. Check it out @iditarodedu

Iditarod Certified Educator (ICE) Program:

ICE Logo

This program is new to Iditarod EDU this year, and is meant for any teacher (preschool-high school) interested in becoming “certified” as an Iditarod teacher. It is an all virtual program with a book study of Kate Mangelsdorf’s book “Champion of Alaskan Huskies” at its core. Assignments are broken up over approximately a 4 month time period, and there are some incredible perks. 

• course materials
• book for the online book club
• I.C.E. t-shirt
• Logo to use for email and social media
• discounts on future conferences
• early registration for Iditarod EDU programs such as the Traveling Quilt, Postcard Challenge, and Trail Mail
• Possible newsletter and website publication opportunities 

This program will open in the Fall, and be sure to keep an eye out for a signup mid summer.