Lesson 1: Introduction to the Iditarod Sled Dog Race; Grades 2-8; Geography, Social Studies, and Science; This lesson introduces how climate relates to lifestyle and culture.

Lesson 2: The Alaskan Husky; Grades 4-8; Technology, Science; This lesson uses computer skills such as cutting, pasting, and saving a Word document as a vehicle to learn the unique characteristics of the Alaskan Husky. 

Lesson 3: Making Electricity from the Sun; Grades 4-12; Science, Technology, Geography, Environmental Education; In this hands on lesson students see how the angle of a solar panel in relationship to the sun’s rays directly effects voltage output.  The Internet is used to research the average hours of sunlight per day for locations across the globe.    

Lesson 4: Wilderness Survival; Grades 4-8; Social Studies, Environmental Education; Students actually build a debris shelter(or model) as they study the hierarchy of survival priorities.  Read Iditarod stories of survival from the book More Iditarod Classics.

Lesson 5: The Reason for the Seasons; Grades 2 -6;  Science, Environmental Education; Students learn about the tilt of the earth and the angle of incidents of the sun’s rays and explain the causes of seasonal change.

Lesson 6: Are We There Yet; Grades 5-12; Technology, Geography; Find out how far it is from your house to Alaska and how long it will take to get there driving, walking, or using public transportation.

Lesson 7: Why is Iditarod a Ghost Town ; Grades 4-12; Environmental Education, Social Studies; Students determine the best place to locate a village by evaluating several locations for available water resources, type of soil, signs of wildlife, and ease of travel.

Lesson 8: The Cold Hard Facts; Grades 4 and above; Technology, Science, Math;In this lesson students use an Excel spreadsheet to record temperature data from their local area and a location in Alaska.  They also use the graphing capability of Excel to create a graph that compares the 2 locations.

Not only is recycling a great idea, but what about reducing the amount of printing done at the school so that less paper is used?  If you want some motivation to reduce, get a hold of your school district’s paper budget.  Sit down first though before you look at it. And, if you want to create a visual for others to see the need to cut back on paper use, borrow the gym and create a pile of boxes big enough to hold the number of reams of paper your school uses in a year.  If you want another shock, figure out how many trees it would take to make that amount of paper.  Not a pretty site.

So, I’ve come up with a number of ways to use less paper and to save money on printing.

1. Have students do assignments in the computer lab and save them to a folder on a drive so that you can down load them to a flash drive.  It is a lot easier to carry a flash drive home in your pocket than a bag full of papers.

2.  Use one of the free test makers on the internet rather than printing your tests out.  http://www.teach-nology.com/downloads/test/

3.  Make worksheets on the computer and save them to a drive that is accessable to your students.  If you go to Tools in the tool bar, and then come down to Protect Document in the drop down menu, you can lock your document so the questions can’t be changed.  You can also provide fields for the students to type their answers.

4.  Only print one copy on your computer printer.  Use a potocopier to make multiple copies.  Copier costs are much less than printer costs.

5.  Some printers are capable of printing duplex. Suggest to your purchasing department that they buy printers of this type.

6. Print to a laser printer instead of an inkjet printer.

7. Make sure students are not printing things they shouldn’t be printing.

8. To save toner, change your printer default to draft mode.

9. Always do a Print Preview before printing to verify that you are only printing pages that you need.

10. For color printers, only print color if needed.

Each one of the above suggestions by itself is no great savings, but if we all follow them, and make them a habit, together we can make a difference.  Live lightly!!!

So, what is this Trail to Every Classroom? TEC is a workshop administered by the National Park Service which helps teachers develop a curriculum for their school using the Appalachian Trail as a recreational, environmental and educational resource. The Trail to Every Classroom curriculum has several functions, 1) to get students outside, experiencing the environment, 2) to get them actively involved in their community performing a needed service, and 3) to teach students the unique history of their community so that they know why and how their community originated. These goals are accomplished by using two teachings methods; Service Learning and Placed Based Education.

Who benefits from TEC? Everyone! That’s the great thing about using these methods to teach students. The students aren’t learning in a vacuum. They are actively participating in their learning as active members of their community. Students also benefit by using all of the content areas during their involvement. The very nature of TEC lends itself easily to a multidisciplinary approach. As an example of this, during the TEC summer workshop, teachers could attend a technology session where they learned to use a GPS as a teaching tool in their classroom. They also had the opportunity to attend a science oriented environmental quality monitoring session where they were learning about the effects of air pollution on vegetation and soil, doing a macroinvertebrate study in water and in the soil.

 

During the teacher’s conference this past summer, I had the privilege of experiencing first hand several of the activities that are used in their lessons. To say the least, I was extremely impressed with the activities and how the lessons are tied in to drug education and leadership training. Before one of the lessons, we were told that we could learn a lot from a rubber chicken. Well, I was very skeptical. But, as it turns out, rubber chickens are very, very intelligent. Rubber chickens can teach you the importance of communication. Really!!! If you want to learn how, check out your local National Guard DDR program.

Another lesson which was done on a low ropes course required our group to work together as a team to complete the course from one end to the other. It was virtually impossible for one person to complete the course alone. In order to maintain balance on the cable we were walking on, an overhead rope had to be swung to you so that you could hold on. As you progressed to the next section, another overhead rope was swung to you by the person in front of you. In this way, you were able to make your way along the entire course. Almost like swinging through the trees with Tarzan, Jane and Cheetah.

 

Don’t let me scare you away from these programs with my stories of the high ropes. The National Guard has a variety of programs available.

 

This year’s Summer Teacher’s Camp was another gem among many. Starting off with 4 days and 3 nights at Vern Halter’s “Dream A Dream Dog Farm,” we got right in to the mushing and dog care aspect of the teacher conference. With Vern at the wheel (literally), we bounced over hill and dale, and Vern guided us through the twist and turns of developing a run/rest schedule for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

We met authors such as Pam Flowers and Rod Perry. Pam Flowers was the first and only woman to traverse the arctic alone by dog sled. What an eye popping story! Pam’s books are available at http://www.pamflowers.com. Rod Perry recently completed a book about the history of the Iditarod Trail called Trail Breakers, available at http://rodperry.com. Rod is an experienced back-country musher who has been charged by grizzly bears no less than 3 times, and has indulged in milk from a mother moose at least 2 times, once in a life or death situation to ward off starvation. Rod was a champion wrestler in college so he must have used some fancy wrestling hold to complete that task.

The Iditarod sign up on Saturday was a great opportunity to meet and talk with world famous mushers like Lance Mackey and Dee Dee Jonrowe. We had the privilege of visiting the beautiful home of artists Jon and Jona Van Zyle. One of the conference days was an open day to visit a site of our choosing as we completed a fun challenge project. Our final experience was an introduction to the National Guard’s Drug and Alcohol Reduction program, which is available for your school through your state’s National Guard. I will write more on this later.

This conference, my friends, is not your average teacher’s conference. It provides once in a life time experiences and refreshes the soul to prepare you for a fresh start next school year. It is a wonderful opportunity to exchange ideas with teachers from across the country. If you haven’t attended this conference, start making plans to include the Iditarod Summer Teacher’s Camp in your schedule for next year. I will be looking forward to seeing you there.

Top 10 ways to plan for this conference next summer.
1. Open a vacation account at your local credit union.
2. Spend some of that moldy money you have socked away in your secret Swiss Bank account.
3. Save all your pocket change in a 5 gallon water cooler jug.
4. Put 20 dollars in a bank account every week for the next year.
5. Stop at laundry mats and check the washer, dryers and coin returns in soda machines for change.
6. Play the lottery.
7. Don’t go on that stupid family vacation that everyone hates.
8. Don’t waste your time and money going to the beach and renting that condo.
9. Run the family station wagon with the bald tires and muffler dragging the ground for one more year. (Be like Uncle Buck. He’s cool. You can be cool also!)
10. Just do it!!!!!!! You’ll be glad you did.
11. And one more thing, when making reservations, remember United breaks guitars!!! http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=united+breaks+guitars&search_type=&aq=f

Herb, along with his wife Jamie, who is a librarian, live in a log home they built and now share with 3 huskies, 5 cats, and a mule.  Herb is a K-6 environmental education and technology teacher at Southern Fulton Elementary School in Warfordsburg, Pennsylvania.  He is also a part time grant writer for the district and has been instrumental in helping the school secure more than $115,000 for the environmental program and the nature trail.  Herb says he has the best teaching job anywhere and also the biggest classroom, since his classroom is the 140 acre school property of woods and fields, which also includes a pond, wetlands, and several streams.

Before becoming a teacher, Herb had a variety of occupations.  He was a farmer, blacksmith, farrier, sawyer, machinist and tool and die maker.  Having these experiences has enriched Herb’s classroom by giving him the necessary background from which to draw upon in order to make real life situations a part of the curriculum in his classroom.  What better way is there to give meaning to learning other than to use the lessons to solve problems students may face once they are in the real world?  Herb was also a Youth Conservation Corp Crew Leader for the United States Forest Service at the Teton Basin Ranger District in Driggs, Idaho.  That was one of the most rewarding and fun jobs he says he ever had.  Imagine getting paid to experience the Tetons and all the adventures they provide and, at the same time, teach students how to care for a fantastic resource so that it is there for future generations.  Speaking of future generations, the next generation has recently been added to Herb’s family by way of a grandson Zeke, and a granddaughter Ella.

Herb also volunteers his time to several community organizations.   He has been treasurer for the local soccer club for 20 years, and because of his extensive experience playing and coaching soccer, he also is a clinician at soccer clinics for coaches.  After receiving the necessary training, Herb became a Trail Stewardship Coordinator for the Pennsylvania Equine Council.    His skill and experience in building and maintaining trail has also led to a volunteer position with the Mid State Trail Association as a trail maintainer.

One project Herb’s school will be participating in this year is the “Books to the Trail” program.  Schools involved in this program hold a fundraiser to help schools in need receive books.

When Herb isn’t coaching soccer you can find him working with his Huskies.  He recently acquired a dog sled and spent a major portion of his spare time last winter viewing the blue ridge mountains of Central Pennsylvania from the back of a dog sled.

If you ask Herb, there’s no better way to travel than dog sled and it sure beats the noise and toxic exhaust of a four-wheeler or snowmobile.

If you ask us, there will be no better way to spend the 2009 – 2010 school year than being on the Iditarod Trail with the Target® Iditarod 2010 Teacher on the Trail^TM Herb Brambley.

Cathy began her Iditarod adventure as Target®2009 Iditarod Teacher on the Trail™ in April of 2008.   The journey is not a journey of one year, but a journey that lasts a lifetime.

As Cathy begins her journey as a Teacher on the Trail alumni member, join us in thanking her for sharing her lessons, activities, songs, and her journey with us.  Enjoy a scrapbook of Cathy’s journey.

Send Cathy and email by clicking here!

Three years ago, when I started my journey to be Teacher on the Trail, I could not foresee the trials, the work, the uncertainty, and the heartbreak.  I wanted to quit more than once. After my first attempt-I was chosen as a finalist, but not the 2008 Teacher on the Trail-I was ready to call it quits.  But my “team”-friends, colleagues, family, and even members of the Iditarod Education Committee-challenged me to keep going. With no guarantee of success, I had to take a deep breath and consider if this was the right decision for me, and was it the right decision for this great group of folks that made up that team.

But with their support, I decided to give it a go, not knowing at the time how vital this team would become in my life.  I put together that second application packet-notebooks full of essays, lesson plans, biographic information, etc-sharpened my computer skills, and waited for the word.

And so I was selected as the 2009 Teacher on the Trail in April; I coasted along on smooth trail until September of  ‘08.  Then the worst weather conditions blew in-I was diagnosed with cancer.  What was I to do?  It didn’t seem possible that I would be able to fulfill my duties as Teacher on the Trail.  I decided to resign.  My husband Bob said, “No, you need to follow through with this.”  I called my principal Claudia Sherry to say I wouldn’t be going to Alaska, and she said, “Yes, you are.”  Diane Johnson, head of the Iditarod Education Committee, said, “No, you may not resign.”  She assured me it was my position, and they would work with me, come what may.  My doctors said, “Well, maybe, but it will be close.”

And close it was.  After months of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation treatments, I was cleared to go on Friday, February 20^th, five days before I flew out to Anchorage.  Two weeks before my red and white blood cell counts were much too low to even consider the journey, but there it was.  I had made it!  But it would not have been possible without the wonderful support and encouragement I had from my doctors, my family, my good friends, my colleagues at Carolina Day School, my church, and all of the dozens and dozens of teachers, mushers, and administrators associated with the Iditarod.  This was my team, and they pulled me through.

I am teaching at CDS once again; I walk regularly, and I’ve even run a little.  I get fatigued easily, and I am still experiencing some swelling and discomfort.  But I am alive, and I have never been more thankful.  I have discovered much about myself; I am humbled by the outpouring of hope, faith, and love from literally hundreds and hundreds of people.  Now I have to pass it on.  I want to be a part of other teams, for those whose sleds have taken an unexpected turn, or whose team is worn out.  I want to be light and warmth for those who find themselves stranded out there on the dark and cold trail.  I hope to cheer them across the finish line, just as others have cheered for me.  Life is teamwork.  That’s what I learned from the Iditarod, and that’s what I hope to pass on.

Watch the slide show!