Four Iditarod Traveling Quilts are on a journey around the United States. Read about the December journey of each quilt!
Quilt 1: Indiana
Cannelton Elementary students in Cannelton, Indiana were thrilled to receive the traveling Iditarod Quilt! As soon as it arrived the 5th graders got it out. Each quilt piece is amazing. There is something to learn from each one. Such great quotes like ”Adversity reveals the true content of a person’s character.” The artwork and the words are all inspirational. They motivated us to learn more about the Iditarod.
Each quilt piece was inspirational and we learned a lot about the race from them.
We liked the quilt so much we decided to design a new quilt piece for a new quilt. (We will finish it as soon as we can after we get back from Christmas vacation.)
We enjoyed learning about the Iditarod by watching the video about Iditarod 2008. We also liked doing the scavenger hunt.
The Traveling Quilt was on display in the main hallway upstairs for all classes to see.
Our 5th grade class is helping the dogs of the Iditarod this year. We signed up to be a part of two bootie making groups. We are making 100 booties for Paw Partners and 100 booties for Bootie Brigade. Our booties will be used in the next Iditarod, Iditarod 2010! 
They will be given to Michelle Phillips (rookie) and Hugh Neff (veteran).
Our school made booties for the Bootie Brigade last year also. We made booties for the dogs of Ramey Smyth last year.
Our teacher is signing up for Iditarod Insider, and we will watch the mushers and their progress. We look forward to the race because we know it will be a race to remember!
The quilt inspired us to make a new quilt piece for a future quilt. Thank you all so much for sharing this quilt with us! It is beautiful!
Joan Goble
Cannelton Elementary
Watch a slide show about the bootie making. Images will advance automatically.
***************
Quilt 2: South Carolina
The 6th graders at Blue Ridge Middle were very excited to see the quilt on December 1. It kicked off our 3 week Iditaread Challenge, an annual reading contest that challenges the students to read a page for each mile of the Iditarod. Our contest usually takes place right before the Iditarod but we moved it forward due to the quilt’s visit. 6th grade has a chart up in the hall and small dogsleds and mushers to move along the trail as they read. The teachers are always amazed at how many students will make it over the finish line after a few days. Each team had a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winner for prizes but all of the students who made it had a celebration. We watch an Iditarod movie and have Ice-cream as a reward. The quilt was displayed in our library for the 3 weeks except for trips to several classrooms and a kindergarten class in a neighboring school. Ms. Johnson visits the classes to tell about living in Alaska for 3 years. We scheduled an open house night so parents could see the quilt and an Iditarod display.
In our classes, we read The Iditarod and checked the temperature in Alaska. We read about the mushers and completed a webquest. We have several additional activities scheduled for March and April. We hope everyone else enjoys the quilt as much as we did.
Quilt 3: Washington
Students wrote about their favorite quilt squares.
Thank you for sending us the quilt. We totally enjoyed exploring all of the pieces and even adding one of our own. We spent time writing about our 3 favorite squares and drawing pictures to go with it. In March our school will have our own Daybreak Iditarod. Each participating classroom will draw a musher to cheer and follow throughout the race. Our first graders will start our own quilt with card stock paper squares to inspire the other classes and grade levels to design their own and share with others.
Thanks again for letting us be a part of the Iditarod Traveling Quilt. Looking forward to March.
Mush On!
Paula Young
Quilt 4: Michigan
Teacher has not turned in her ‘homework’ yet. Check back for an update.
