Every camp has its unique feature. Most camps have games, stories, and crafts, and some even have singing. Mush! Iditarod Quest! had all of the aforementioned activities, but what made this camp unique is its focus on character. The children learned what it takes to be a good musher and therefore a good citizen. To teach these good character traits I used the acronym RACE, because the Iditarod is The Last Great RACE on Earth.
Monday through Thursday of this one-week camp I focused on one of the character traits in the acronym RACE
- R – Respect and Responsibility
- A – Attitude
- C – Compassion
- E – Excellence
Each day, campers learned one story about a musher who exemplifies that trait. That way, when I reviewed the traits already studied the children could look at the musher’s photograph and tell me his name and what he did that showed the exemplified trait. For instance, the musher I used to exemplify respect and responsibility was Jeff King. In the 2006 race Jeff’s team pulled away without him in the middle of the night. Jeff did what anyone would do in that situation. He ran after them screaming at the top of his lungs, but that’s not what turned them around. Salem, Jeff’s lead dog, turned the team around and came back for him; they went on to not only finish but also win the race. The children clearly understood how responsible Salem was from this story. Jeff then showed respect for Salem at the start of the 2007 race, and I was fortunate enough to catch it on film. Salem didn’t make the team that year, but Jeff gave him a ride to the starting line in the sled basket anyway. That special bond between this man and his dog were evident to everyone. My campers could look at this photograph and completely understand what respect and responsibility looks like.
The above lesson is an excellent example of the type of character education we can glean from the Iditarod. And this type of teaching isn’t preachy or overly didactic; it makes the point by illustrating character in the lives of real people. Simple storytelling is a powerful tool that cannot be exhausted. The Iditarod provides endless stories of the lives of the mushers, their dogs, and the countless people who make it all happen.
To start the school year I am posting lessons on respect and responsibility and attitude. Each of these character education tenets has a song that goes along with them and extended references so that each trait can be studied for an entire quarter of the school year. I am also posting the craft idea that pulls all four traits together, a necklace with beads that spell RACE, six round beads to represent the number of dogs needed to finish the Iditarod, and sixteen multicolored beads for the number of dogs pulling the sled at the start of the race. Campers made the necklace on Friday and camp concluded with them singing the character education songs to their parents and then challenging them to Dog Bootie Relay!