We’d like to introduce the finalists to you and invite you to follow the interview and selection activities during the next several weeks by checking back at this website for future articles.

Martha Dobson

A lifelong North Carolinian, I am married with three children, a middle school teacher for eight years, and a person for whom challenges are a chance to do the unusual to experience life. A quiet leader, I understand the value of listening, observing, and then taking action.

I hold a bachelor degree in psychology and a middle grades teaching certificate from Meredith College in Raleigh, NC. Over the years I have taught public school, returning to the classroom eight years ago, volunteered extensively in the community through Girl Scouts and service organizations, and traveled within the United States and abroad. Since 2005, I’ve traveled to Alaska five times for the winter and summer Iditarod teacher conferences and vacation, volunteered at the 2006 and 2009 races, and visited five kennels.

In 2005, teaching brought me to the Iditarod, and the bug bit, hard. I discovered the race’s lure and its challenges, and when I learned about the Teacher on the Trail position, I set application for the position as my goal. As Iditarod mushers are closely acquainted with perseverance, I also have become a close and personal friend of this character trait through the application processes for the 2009 and 2010 races, and now the 2011 race.

Riding in the ceremonial race start as an Idita-Rider was the highlight of 2005 for me, the quiet greenway, and only the shushing of sled runners and the jingle of harness to be heard. It was a small taste of what the race could be.

Iditarod hooks students because of the dogs and the uniqueness of the event and Alaska and, students learn, in a unique way, the skills necessary for success.  Borrowing from Professor Randy Pausch (1960- July 2008), Iditarod is a great “head fake” because students are so interested in the race they don’t realize they’re learning educational skills. I’ve seen Iditarod reach students when little else has, and create success for those with limited success. I love introducing them to the uniqueness of the race and Alaska and seeing them come to appreciate a lifestyle so different from their own.

View one of Martha’s lessons, How Cold is It? Temperature 3 Line Graph

Students will accurately plot temperature lows on a graph using dates and temperatures. Students will connect each location’s temperature to create a line graph, creating a 3-line graph, and write a summary of the data. 5th to 8th Grade, Math

Blynne Froke

It seems like Blynne Froke has been on the go her whole life. She was born in Canada and emigrated to California and every summer involved a car trip back home. When her father was sent to Venezuela for work, Blynne went along to start high school. It took seventeen years and three states to complete her college education, but she didn’t give up.

Summer 2007 found her back in South America with her brother working in Bolivia. For the last thirty years though Blynne has lived in rural northern California where she raised two beautiful daughters with husband, Mike and an ever growing assortment of dogs and cats.

After teaching English at the junior high level for almost 12 years, Blynne decided she was up for a real challenge and as is common in her life an opportunity presented itself.  Community Day School is a contained last chance classroom for students that have been expelled. Now she is teaching everything from P.E. to Physics to British Lit.

It seems like challenge has been a commonly sought after theme in Blynne’s life and these students would not disappoint. Her signature use of patience and passion seemed to work for many, but something more intense was needed to draw in these very needy students and she was on the search again. By chance Blynne read a book about the Iditarod and shared it with her students. They shared her excitement. That was three years ago. What started as a half an hour read aloud turned into a cross-curricular thematic program around what she saw as the most important themes of goal-setting, planning, personal responsibility, problem solving and stewardship. It has found such fertile ground as to graduate twice as many students as before.

Blynne has embraced challenge not only in professional life, but in her personal life as well. What started as a whim, a couch to 5k running club, turned into another great passion. Three years and a hundred pounds later, she has completed two half marathonsand is training for a third.

View one of Blynne’s lessons,  Heroes of the Iditarod, A Living  Wax Museum.

Lesson Summary:  Students learn about an individual hero of the Iditarod and create a “wax museum” display.  This is an excellent culminating activity suitable to Open House Night.  Grades 5 and up, History, Social Science

Sally Simon

Sally Simon is from Westchester County, New York where she is an enrichment/gifted and talented teacher in the Hendrick Hudson School District. Her teaching duties are split between two schools: Furnace Woods Elementary School and Blue Mountain Middle School where she teaches advanced 6th grade math. Sally is also the video club advisor at the middle school which is pioneering a broadcast studio this school year. She feels fortunate to be in a position to create her own standards based curriculum, and has capitalized on using the Iditarod across the curriculum in every area from math and science to writing and social studies. While attending the Winter Conference for Educators in 2009, Sally, a self confessed “techie,” sent the 2009 Iditarod experience back to her students using a daily blog, and audio/video podcasts. She believes “to be a good teacher is to expose students to the world and guide them in their interpretation of it.”

The excitement of following a dog sled race is what first interested Sally in teaching the Iditarod. However, she soon discovered the Iditarod is not only an event, but a lifestyle rich with lessons to be learned: Alaskan culture, the spirit of the people, the history of the race, creative problem solving, character education, and life skills to name a few. This year, Sally is developing curriculum themed on a critical aspect of the Iditarod, TEAMWORK, for both her school and local community organizations.

Sally and her husband Gary have been married for twenty years and have two sons, 12 and 14. They share their home with three dogs, a legion of chipmunks, and a family of deer who call their backyard home. As a family they are active in the community through their schools, church and community theatre. They also share a love of travel and have visited many places in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Europe, and Costa Rica. In her spare time, Sally enjoys reading, fencing, acting in and directing plays, home decorating and playing games with her kids.

As a finalist for 2011 Target ® Teacher on the Trail,™ Sally’s goal is to make the Iditarod a meaningful learning experience for a greater number of people including senior citizens, community organizations, youth groups, and colleague

View one of Sally’s lessons,  It Takes a Team: Iditarod Volunteers

Lesson Summary:  Using the cooperative learning strategy of jigsaw, students learn the roles of various Iditarod volunteers.  Grades 3 – 8, English/Language Arts

****  Read more about the finalists at this link! (by Gypsy the K 9 Journalist)

Enjoy the slide show from the 2009 Musher Banquet.

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Enter our Table Top Decorating Contest!

• The Iditarod takes place because thousands of volunteers play major roles in every aspect of the race and the events that surround it.
• Your class can be a part of the race from your location by being chosen as part of the volunteer team that helps make the Iditarod Musher Banquet in Anchorage a festive occasion.
• Enter our contest. Selected classrooms will create and send the decorations that will be on the tables at the banquet.
• Win a prize for your classroom, but more importantly, provide your students with an opportunity to be involved in a service learning project.  You can’t always be somewhere ‘physically’, but what can do– is help to create an environment for this incredible event.  Be with us— through your student’s art and creative endeavors.

201o Table Top Contest Rules and Entry Form

A special thanks goes to our 2009 winning schools! Thanks for helping to make the banquet a special event.

• A.O. Marshall Elementary School, Il,  Jackie Juricic
• Level Cross Elementary School, NC, Lisa Oaks, Mary Luper
• McEver Elementary School, GA, Sarah Lux

Read an article about the 2009 Musher Banquet written by Target® 2009 Iditarod Teacher on the Trail™ Cathy Walters

Enjoy a slide show of our past winners and banquet pictures.