Click here to read the journal created by Target® 2009 Iditarod Teacher on the Trail™, Cathy Walters.  To hear Cathy’s songs, click here!

Click here to read the journal created by the Mentor on the Trail, SSG Russell Throckmorton. Cathy and Russell are traveling the Iditarod Trail and enjoying their time with students and teachers.  Don’t miss these stories from the Iditarod Trail!

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Click here for resources to help your students: (Iditarod Ready!  Storm Ready! curriculum materials, project connections and lesson ideas, musher tracking forms, and information necessary to read if you are writing to mushers this year.)

Click here to read articles from our Target® 2010 Iditarod Teacher on the Trail™.   Check out their lesson ideas and projects, read about their experiences, and join us as we await the decision announcing our next Teacher on the Trail™!

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Last spring, six students from Nulato went on their senior fieldtrip to Cleveland, Ohio. Their teachers, Laura Barnett and Jim Bob Webb shared information about their adventure. We knew you’d enjoy hearing about this journey!

Nulato Students Take ‘Fieldtrip’ to Cleveland

By Laura Barnett

We all had an amazing trip to Cleveland. The seniors met their hero, LeBron James, which was apparently a miraculous feat. My reporter friend worked hard to ‘put pressure on the Cavs’ and when the Cleveland community heard about our seniors from the news, they had no choice but to give us amoment for photos and autographs. It was a memorable moment for the kids.

We went to two Cavs games as well as an Indians baseball game. It was funny because I told the kids to dress warm for the Indians game but they laughed at me since they know cold being from Alaska. It got down to the 40s during the game and after plenty of hot chocolate, they were all so chilled to the bone from the wind off Lake Erie that they couldn’t wait to leave.

We visited Shaker Heights Middle and High schools and the students were awed by the size and variety of courses. Shaker now offers Chinese language classes which even impressed me. Randy Yates, the middle school principal is a good friend of mine and he suggested we go to Niagara Falls one day. So Randy joined us for the road trip and I think it was well worth the detour. The falls always impress me and with the beautiful day we had, the seniors were also thrilled to be there.

In addition to visits to the zoo and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, students were interviewed by the media, were invited to a live local TV program, and stopped on the street and asked if they were the students from Alaska. It was heady stuff for six kids from Nulato!

For the chaperones – Jim Bob and me – it was great too especially when the students weren’t complaining about not having enough time to visit more malls! We were really proud of how well-behaved they were and how seriously they took on the roles of ‘Alaska Ambassadors’ when they talked to the media, fellow students, and regular Clevelanders.
Our trip was memorable for all of us.

All the best,
Laura
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by Education Department… Are you wondering about the awards given out at the Finisher’s Banquet in Nome? The list of awards and winners are:

PenAir Spirit of Alaska Award- Presented by Danny Seybert (PenAir Chief Operating Officer) is a beautiful framed mask depicting the spirit of the “team”. This year’s recipient was Lance Mackey form Fairbanks Alaska. Mackey also received $500 credit for travel or freight.

GCI Dorothy G. Page Halfway Award- Presented by Gary Samuelson (GCI Nome Alaska) to Dee Dee Jonrowe from Willow Alaska who was the first musher to arrive in Cripple Alaska. Dee Dee received $2,500 in gold nuggets and a beautiful trophy.

Millennium Hotel Anchorage Alaskan First To the Yukon Award- Presented by Brook McGrath (Millennium Alaska Food and Beverage manager) to Lance Mackey who was the first Musher to arrive in Ruby Alaska. While in Ruby, Mackey received a seven course meal. Tonight Mackey received an additional $5,000 in one dollar bills as the “after dinner mint” for his efforts.

Wells Fargo Bank Alaska Gold Coast Award- Presented by Loren Prosser (Wells Fargo Bering Sea Community Bank President) to Jeff King from Denali Alaska. King was the first musher to arrive in the Gold Coast community of Unalakleet. He was awarded a beautiful trophy and $2,500 in gold nuggets.

Nome Kennel Club Fastest Time from Safety to Nome Award- Cim Smyth from Big Lake Alaska was able to complete the trek from Safety to Nome in 2 hours and 11 minutes. He received $500 for his efforts.

2008 Iditarod Most Improved Musher Award- Was awarded to Warren Palfrey, from Yellow Knife Canada. Palfrey completed his first Iditarod in 2006, finishing in 60^th position. He finished the 2008 Iditarod in 26^th position.

Rookie of the Year- The Rookie of the Year Award has been sponsored by Jerry and Clara Austin of Nome Alaska since 1980. The 2008 Rookie of the Year was William Kleedehn from Carcross Canada. He received $1,500 and a trophy for his efforts.

Fred Meyer Sportsmanship Award- This award includes $1,000 in Fred Meyer Gift Cards and was awarded to Ray Redington Jr. from Wasilla Alaska.

Chevron Most Inspirational Musher Award- Jennifer Freking from Finland Minnesota received the honors which included a trophy and $1,000 worth of Chevron gas.

Golden Clipboard Award- The 2008 Golden Clipboard was awarded to the community of Nulato Alaska.

Golden Stethoscope Award- Awarded to the veterinarian deemed most helpful on the trail by the members of the Iditarod Official Finishers Club was awarded to Dr. Paul Nader D.V.M.

Alaska Airlines Leonhard Seppala Humanitarian Award- is based on specific criteria to determine who has best demonstrated outstanding dog care through out the Race while remaining competitive. The 2008 recipient was 4 time Iditarod Champion Jeff King. King received a lead crystal cup on an illuminated wooden base and two free round trip tickets to anywhere on the Alaska Airlines system.

The City of Nome Lolly Medley Golden Harness Award Winner- Originally presented by the late Lolly Medley, Wasilla harness maker and one of two women to run the second Iditarod in 1974. The award honors an outstanding lead dog, chosen by the mushers. This year’s recipient was Babe an 11 year old member of Ramey Smith’s team from Big Lake Alaska. Babe has completed eight Iditarods and led her team to a 3^rd place finish in 2008. Ramy Smyth is the son of the late Lolly Medley.

Northern Air Cargo Herbie Nayokpuk Memorial Award- Presented to the musher chosen by staff and officials as the person who most closely mimics “Herbie” in his/her attitude on the trail. This year’s recipient was William Kleedehn. He received a free freight allotment on Northern Air Cargo, $1,049 in cash and a trophy.

Wells Fargo Winner’s Purse Award- Was awarded to the 2008 Iditarod Champion, Lance Mackey. This year’s award was $69,000.

Anchorage Chrysler Dodge Official Truck Award- Was awarded to the 2008 Iditarod Champion, Lance Mackey. Mackey received a 2008 Dodge Ram Laramie “HEMI” 4/x/4 quad cab pick up.

During the Banquet each musher had the opportunity to try starting a brand new 4 wheel Bombardier compliments of Northern Air Cargo. The winning key belonged to Sebastian Schnuelle from Whitehorse Canada.

Press Release About the Awards

Educators around the world are ‘uncovering’ curriculum through their participation in the 2008 Target® Iditarod Teacher on the Trail^TM project, “A Common Thread”. Jane Blaile, this year’s teacher created this project to connect classrooms through an act of kindness, a “no strings attached gift”, a student made quilt, a project that share the lives of the quilt makers to the receiving school.

Students in participating schools created a quilt that was sent to an assigned school in Alaska. Each quilt was an incredible unique display of the local culture or a topic that was being studied by the quilt makers. The receiving gift has only one responsibility, to receive the gift.

View the blog that shows some of the quilts that were made by the teachers who registered for this project. Congratulations to participating schools who cared to share a colorful piece of their world with Alaska.

Click here to visit the project.

by Iditarod Education Department

Along the Iditarod trail, students develop projects to help welcome the mushers to the community. As in many villages, students in Nulato created posters that were hung around the checkpoint.

Students get very involved in their school activities and enjoy following the race. Their enjoyment grows when the volunteers arrive in the village and begin to set up the checkpoints. Once the mushers arrive, the students really enjoy getting to see the racers and the teams. The students often get autographs from the mushers, too.

In the photography, students in the elementary school, grades K- 4 stood in front of some of the student created posters.

By Judi Roach, 2009 Target Iditarod Teacher on the Trail Finalist

Every year, the Iditarod Sled Dog Race is dependent upon hundreds of volunteers to help stage “The Last Great Race!” This race would not be possible without the help of volunteers who return year after year, and race after race to assist in this honored Alaskan tradition. Not all volunteers are veterans. There are always new people to train to ensure that the race is run smoothly. One of the jobs that a volunteer might do is that of a dog handler.

This year Dog Handling 101 began in a conference room at the Millennium Hotel. By the time instructions were delivered, the dog handlers to be, were sufficiently warm and ready to give this important job a go. A dog handler is a person who helps bring the dogs to the starting line of the race. In order to do this, the handler must be dressed properly. Footwear should consist of a pair of warm boots that are waterproof. Athletic shoes and Yak Traks are not allowed. Stepping on a dog’s foot or toenails is something to be avoided. This could cause a dog to be dropped and nobody wants to lessen a musher’s chance of competing in the race. In addition, ice is slippery. That is why it is important to wear adequate footwear. Warm clothes are necessary to keep warm. Gloves or mittens with leather palms are preferred. That way, if the line gets frayed, the handler is less likely to get slivers from the rope. The restart takes place on Willow Lake, on the ice. This is not a time to be cold, so all volunteers should be prepared for a cold, windy day.

In order to handle a dog effectively, the handler must hold on to the gang line and other lines that run down the center of the dog sled team. Some mushers also use leashes for added stability. If this is the case, the handler will want to apply tension on the leash toward the sled. As the dog team progresses to the starting line, the handlers will walk/trot to the starting line beside the team. It is imperative that the handler watch the dog’s feet in front of him or her. Lines that get tangled are a fact of life for dog mushers. However, it is never pretty when this happens. Our trainer advised us to not worry about tangled lines unless the line was so tight that less than 6 inches of line showing. Some people loose their footing and then it is necessary to “bail out”. To protect the dogs, and the dogs are the true athletes of this competition, it might be necessary to dive out of the way if a handler begins to fall. If this is the case, the handler can get back up and return to the line. “Loose Dog!” could be something that you hear. Dogs have gotten of away in the past. If this happens, we were instructed to try and get the dog stopped by stepping in front of the dog, blocking his path. Sometimes dogs jump over the gang line. If this happens the handler will take the dog by the harness and get it back over on the correct side of the gang line.

A duty that dog handlers are not required to do is to harness a dog. Harnessing a dog is not as easy as mushers make it appear to be. They have been doing this job for many years and can get this job done efficiently and in a fast manner. Handlers do not take dogs from the dog trucks. The musher’s generally do this themselves or enlist the help of their support people.

A very important thing to remember when handling a dog sled team is to ask questions and don’t attempt something that you are not ready or able to do. As Karl, the coordinator of the training explained, these dogs are like family members to the mushers. Much time, care and effort has gone into getting them into tip top mushing form.

In order to give the volunteers a practice run at dog handling, this eager group made their way to the paved parking lot behind the hotel. We took turns handling the dogs by running along side the dogs and making a half circle in the parking with them. As the volunteers took turns, the dogs kept following the vocal commands of the musher. The practice runs went smoothly and the 2008 group of dog handler volunteers were ready to go.

Making sure that the dogs and mushers have a safe and successful trip down the Iditarod Trail is something that the ITC strives to help achieve. Through its training programs for volunteers, this continues to be a successful event that is watched by millions of people each year. Good luck handlers, be focused and watch out for those moving, bootied feet. Every step counts and they all begin at the starting line in Willow!

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