Hi Boys and Girls,

I sure have been busy this weekend. It started on Friday when my humans said I needed a bath. They said I smelled like a dog. Well DUH! I don’t understand why humans want us to smell like them and not like we should. Anyway, my human told me that I was going to a special event on Saturday and that little humans would be hugging me and giving me belly rubs so I needed to smell good (meaning not like a dog). Well I’ll do just about anything for a belly rub so I went and took a bath. I have to admit I looked better as my fur was really soft and fluffy.

What a great time we had on Saturday. The event was a fund raiser for a group called Shared Gifts. Shared gifts is an organization that helps individuals (children and adults) with special needs, learn how to love, care and ride retired, elderly, or once abused horses. Marcia Evans has run the 4H Easy Riders Program for the past 40 years and The Merrimack Valley Equestrian Special Olympics program for the past 20 years. The money raised on Saturday goes to support these 2 very worthy causes. The main fund raiser for this year was a raffle. You will never guess what the grand prize was– A 6 day trip to Alaska for the Iditarod. Can you believe that??? Iditarod musher Judy Currier donated her frequent flyer airline mileage for the plane tickets. That was really nice of her. The winner will stay in Alaska at a Bed and Breakfast and will attend the Mushers Banquet the Start and Restart. Now that’s a prize! The raffle drawing was the last thing that took place. Before that there were a couple of other organizations there raising money, there were a few demonstrations and/or talks, and there was an I-kid-a-rod.

The New Hampshire Special Olympics had a table. They were representing the High School Penguin Plunge to be held February

6th. A Penguin Plunge is where humans jump in a lake, the ocean or another body of water when it’s freezing cold. The humans usually form teams and family and friends give them money to do this. The money collected goes to the organization- in this case- NH Special Olympics. I think it’s a pretty unique way to raise money. Good luck to everyone participating on Feb. 6th.

One of the favorite groups at this event was Peace and Paws. Peace and Paws is a non profit organization dedicated to finding loving homes for abandoned and homeless pets. It is run by Melissa and Bo who started the organization after adopting a dog for their family. Each dog is placed in foster care first. After an application and introduction process the dogs are placed in their forever home. Peace and Paws brought several of their adoptable dogs with them. They were such nice dogs. I wanted my humans to take all of them home with us. My humans seem to think the 10 dogs we have are enough! You can get more information about Peace and Paws by going to: www.peaceandpaws.org I sure hope the new fur friends I made found good forever homes due to this event.

There were several outside events going on also. It was such a beautiful sunny day that the outside events were a

big success. One group had a display on Chinook dogs. A Chinook is the New Hampshire state dog. The Chinook is one of the few breeds that was bred in America-(in New Hampshire) in the early 1900’s. It was bred for it’s intelligence and for being a good sled dog. For more information about this breed you can go to: www.chinook.org. I was able to meet two Chinooks at the event. They were having a great time greeting the participants and getting big hugs from the children.

The Hopkinton High School Interact Club put on an I-Kid-a-Rod. They used sleds that were made out of heavy corrugated cardboard. The cardboard sleds were attached to a regular wooden childrens sled. Then stuffed dogs were placed in the sleds along with equipment for the race. The children were to pull the sleds (just like us dogs do) to a variety of checkpoints. At each checkpoint the children had to do something- check for equipment, check booties, have the vets check them etc. It was so much fun. Has your class or school ever had an I-Kid-a-Rod?

My humans, my grandma Lyra and I, set up a sled with all the lines, had our dog truck open for viewing, and gave a small presentation. For me that was the best part of the day. I love teaching humans about dog sledding. The little humans were my size and they gave me lots of kisses, hugs, and BELLY RUBS!!!!! I made some new doggie friends also. Then I got some special treats! I can’t think of a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Congratulations to Mary who put on this event. She has worked very hard the past few weeks to make sure this event was a success. Congratulations also to the winner of the raffle. I know you will have a great time up in Alaska.

That’s it for now. I hope this has given some of you ideas about what you could do for the Community Challenge Zuma has told you about.

Happy Trails,
Gypsy

I was so excited to get email from Mrs. Goble’s students this week.  They are doing an exciting project this year.  I hope you enjoy their letter!

Lots of Tail Wags,

Zuma

Hello Zuma,

I am Joan Goble, teacher at Cannelton Elementary School in Cannelton, Indiana.  I just wanted to let you know that again this year my students and I are making booties for the Iditarod dogs.  This year we are helping out both the Bootie Brigade and the Paw Partners groups.  The dog teams we are making booties for are Hugh Neff’s dogs and Michelle Phillips’ dogs. We are making 100 booties for each team.

We also had fun right before Christmas hosting one of the traveling Iditarod Quilts. As a matter of fact, we got to host the original quilt!  It was fun to read each quilt piece and see where it came from. It was also fun to do a scavenger hunt using the quilt.  I have a photo of my students in front of the quilt if you are interested in seeing it.

We plan on following the Iditarod again this year. I am planning on becoming an Iditarod Insider again. It was great to be able to follow all of the dog teams last year via the GPS.

We thank you and the other dog reporters for keeping us informed about the race and the mushers.  You are all doing a great job!

By the way…we received our Zuma award last week! Thank you so very much!

Everything in it is wonderful…and two of my students are creating a small website about our Iditarod learning experiences, and the booklet and other items will help them with it.

We will hang the award and your picture in our hallway!  It is beautiful!

Mrs. Joan Goble

The mushers and their dogs have been training for a long time.  With sled bags soon to be packed, with hopes, dreams, and plans in place, mushers will be heading to the starting line on Saturday, March 6.   The restart is on the following day, Sunday, March 7.  The race will end when the last musher reaches Nome.

Each musher has already faced challenges of training dogs, raising funds to pay for expenses, and putting all of their plans in place.

Iditarod staff has been putting all the plans in place to hold this race. Volunteers have been making plans to go to Alaska and help with volunteer jobs before the race, during, and after the race.  This race would not happen without the many, many volunteers.  We are very thankful for them because they help make Iditarod happen!

While you are thinking about the challenges the Iditarod staff, the volunteers, and the mushers, and dogs will face, I would like you to think about being a volunteer in your own community so that the  challenges others face around you, can be less.

Now is the time for you to think about how you can volunteer and help make the world a better place in your own community.  I’m sure if you sit down and come up with a brain stormed list, you can discover lots of ideas about what you and your classmates can do in your own school or community to show you care about others.  Look around you!  Think!

My challenge to you, Boys and Girls, is to come up with a class project in your own community.

Learn what it is like to help with a community project and take pride in your efforts.  The project doesn’t have to be big—-  because sometimes even small projects make a huge difference!

Here is one idea:  Animal shelters are always in need of supplies.   Gypsy, Sanka, Libby, and I have a special challenge for those of you who are interested in helping the pets in your communities to stay healthy.  Research about your local shelter.  Invite someone from the shelter to visit your classroom so you can learn more about the shelter.  Discover what their special needs are and how you can help.  Put a plan in action.

Do you need more ideas?  Is there an organization in your community that raises funds to help needy families?  Is there a food drive going on or does someone you know just need a helping hand?  Would you brighten someone’s day by sending cards or putting on a  program for the local retirement community?  Does the trash in your local park need to be picked up?  Is there an organization in your community that could use a hand?

Take a look at your own community and do something to help out!

When your project is done, write to us and tell us what you did and why you did it.  You can even send us a  picture and we’ll put the picture and your story on the website.

Don’t just sit there, friends!  Get your thinking caps on and come up with a project, any project that you know will help make a difference.   Show your community the power behind the people who volunteer!

If each of us  were to get involved in helping others, we can really brighten someone’s day and make the world a better place!

We can’t wait to hear about your projects!  Join our challenge!

Start your project next week or next month.  You could even start the project on the start of the race and see if you can finish it before the last musher reaches Nome!

Good luck on your projects!  Happy ‘good deed doing’ to all of you!

Lots of Tail Wags,

Zuma

I am very proud of the schools that participated in the 2009 Community Challenge Project!

Here is a summary of Southhampton’s project.

If you did a project at your school, don’t forget to tell us about it!

Lots of Tail Wags,

Zuma

Dear Zuma,

I am writing to let you know how much the students of Southampton Elementary School enjoyed learning about the 2009 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. As the media specialist at Southampton Elementary School, I wanted students to experience the race on many different levels. We watched official race footage and read on-line newspapers. We created a large wall map and followed the race till the last team reached Nome. We read fiction and non-fiction books about the Iditarod and learned a great deal about sled dogs. Each student created their own sled dog profiles, which we proudly displayed in the hallway outside the media center.

I also wanted to tell you about our 2009 Iditarod Community Challenge Project. Our student council held a Treats and Towels Campaign for the Town of Southampton Animal Shelter. Students and teachers donated dog biscuits, dog treats ( cat food and cat treats, too) and plenty of towels and blankets for shelter dogs. I hope it is not too late to share our story with you. Happy Sledding!

Lisa Bowen, School Media Specialist,

Southampton Elementary School

Hi Boys and Girls,

Do you remember by first community Challenge post?  It was about Mrs. Andrews class in Pelham NH.  This 3^rd grade class was making money for the Animal Rescue Network of New England (ARNNE)  by baking and selling yummy dog biscuits.  Well they had another sale the end of March.  This time they raised $185 for a total of $315 to be donated to ARNNE.  Isn’t that amazing.  GREAT JOB Mrs. Andrews class!!!!!

To see more about this project you can go to:

http://www.pelhamweb.org/pes/mrsandrews/bow_wow_biscuits.htm

The students in Mrs. Andrews asked if the could interview me.  I had never been interviewed before.  I’m always the one that does the interviewing!  You can see the interview at:

http://www.pelhamweb.org/pes/mrsandrews/new_page_5.htm

If you have a community project that you would like us to feature on the blog, just email us the information.  We’d love to feature your class.

Keep up the good work,

Gypsy

I had a great adventure on Friday.  I was invited to Mrs. Davidson’s 2^nd grade class at Paul A. Smith Elementary School in Franklin, NH. They had read about my visit to Mrs. Andrews class and about their Community Challenge project.  After reading the post, they decided to do their own project.  They invited me to see what they had done.  They told me they had a surprise for me. I love surprises so I told my human we just had to go.

What a nice school and class.  When I walked into the classroom, you can’t believe what I saw. First, there was a large bulletin board covered in Iditarod pictures, and artwork, and race information.  In front of the bulletin board was the best sight of all. There was a pile of supplies for homeless animals.  There was food, treats, paper towels,  toys and even a dog bed. I just had to find out what all this was for.  They told me that after reading about Mrs. Andrews class they wanted to accept Zuma’s Community Challenge also.  They really wanted to help homeless animals.  They also said they wanted to meet me the K9 Iditarod reporter because their class tracked the Iditarod this year and they had a Flat Stanley travel along with Lance Mackey.  There was so much excitement in the room. 

To start their project they set up 2 committees to contact two local shelters, the NH Humane Society and the Franklin Animal Shelter.  They got a wish list from both places.  They then collected food, supplies, toys, and money.  They had another committee that got the boxes for the supplies and a container to store the money in.  Mrs. Davidson will use the money to buy more goodies for the animals.  In total they have collected 128 items and $22.76.  That’s very impressive especially since they did all this in the month of March.

I asked the class what they had learned this year.  Their response was” We learned a lot about the real Iditarod and Alaska and we learned that it’s fun to help others.  We really wanted to practice being respectful and responsible.  We had fun practicing our fractions lessons as we measured the ingredients to make Gypsy’s dog biscuits, and we loved Gypsy’s visit and learning more about the Iditarod.”

Oh yes, the dog biscuits.  Did I forget to tell you about the biscuits? Well they followed Mrs. Andrews biscuit recipe and made me a basket of biscuits.  They were so yummy.  I really love those biscuits.  My human told me I had to share with the other dogs I live with.  That was hard but I did share and everyone enjoyed the special treat I brought home.  There was one more very special surprise.  They gave me a big pink present which my human helped me unwrap.  In the package was a picture of me drawn by Mrs. Doucette who is also a part of the class.  It was strange seeing myself like that.  My human says she loves the picture.  She’s looking for a special place to hang it.

Before I left, everyone had to say good bye to me.  I recieved a zillion belly rugs.  I like belly rubs almost as much as I love treats.

It was a great afternoon and I want to thank the class for having us visit.  Congratulations to Mrs. Davidson’s class for completing the challenge.  There will be many homeless pets who will appreciate your efforts.

Please let us know if your class has completed a project for Zuma’s Community Challenge.  We’d love to post your story too.

See you on the trail,

Gypsy

Several of you have asked me if Mrs. Andrews class would share the YUMMY cookie biscuit recipe they are making for their community project.  I asked and Mrs. Andrew was very happy to share.  I hope all of you can make them for your dogs.  Your dogs will really enjoy them.

Chicken Flavored Biscuits:

1/2 cups of quick oats

3/4 cup wheat germ

1/2 cup cornmeal

1 1/4 cup white flour

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup chicken broth

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine all ingredients in large bowl.  Mix until stiff dough forms.  Roll dough to 1/4″ thickness.  Cut into shapes.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 min.  Cookies should be hard.

Thank you Mrs. Andrews and class.   I’m off to ask my human to make some for me.

Gypsy

Hi Boys and Girls,

Isn’t this an exciting weekend?  Are you following your musher?

 

I received a really nice letter from Mrs. Gobles 3^rd grade class at Cannelton Elementary in Cannelton, Indiana.  They have been very busy this year with Community Projects.  Their first project was for the Perry County Animal Shelter.  They wanted to help the homeless animals at the shelter find new homes. First, they went to the shelter to play with the animals. I know the animals really enjoyed that!

 

 

Their current project is to help the shelter purchase a grooming kit. This kit will be used to  clean up the animals and get them ready for adoption.  They are planning a celebration at the shelter when they deliver the kit.  The celebration will include a cake for the humans and treats for the animals.  They will take pictures of the new arrivals to the shelter and make new posters to feature them and hopefully find new homes for the newest members of the shelter.

Another project they did this year which had a direct link to the Iditarod was to make 100 booties for musher Ramey Smith.  They joined the Bootie Brigade which is a group of sewers who make booties for mushers in the Iditarod. They said they “were happy to be a part of the race in this way, because not only are they helping a musher but they are directly helping the dogs who make the race possible.”

 

 

 

I asked Mrs. Goble what she thought the children have learned.  She said, “they have learned that it doesn’t matter how old you are, anyone and everyone can help make the world a better place. They also learned that they can have a whole lot of fun doing it.”

Currently, a flat Ramey (modeled after Flat Stanley) they made is in Alaska enjoying the race and sending them back reports and pictures. They are very excited about this.  Flat Ramey even called them the other day and let them talk to the real Ramey!

Congratulations Mrs. Gobles class.  We K9 reporters are very proud of you.  You have helped a lot of cats and dogs find nice homes and families who will love them and take care of them.

Is your class doing a Community service project to help animals?  We’d love to hear from you and feature you on our blog.

Have fun this week following the race,

Gypsy

Hi Boys and Girls,

Did you read Zuma’s post about doing community service?  Isn’t that a great idea?  Well I went to see a class today that is doing a wonderful community project.

Mrs. Andrews 3^rd grade class from Pelham Elementary in Pelham NH has started baking dog biscuits to sell.  The money they raise will be donated to the Animal Rescue Network of New England (ARNNE).  This is an organization that helps find homes for rescued animals.  Every month they have a Pet Adoption day where pets from several shelters and foster homes come to meet humans looking to adopt a pet.  Tables are set up by some of the rescue groups and they sell products to help fund their efforts.  This is where I found Mrs. Andrews class.

Mrs. Andrews is a really cool teacher.  She believes that learning needs to relate to real life.  An example is you don’t just teach fractions, you learn to use fractions by following recipes, doubling recipes, halving recipes etc.  For all subjects, she gives her students as much real life experience as she can.  So when she saw another teacher and class making and selling dog biscuits, she thought, “we can do that too”.  With that Bow Wow Biscuits was started.

 

I got to talk with the little humans (students) in Mrs. Andrews class.  They were great. They hugged me, gave me belly rubs, and let me sample some of their doggie biscuits.  The biscuits were sooooooooooo good, I had to know what was in them and how they made them.  The students said they used all human ingredients- flour, chicken broth, oats, wheat germ, cornmeal and vegetable oil.  They told my human that even she could eat some.  She didn’t but a few of the students said they had tried the treats and that they were good.  To make the biscuits, the students mix all the ingredients, roll out the dough and then use dog bone shaped cookie cutters to cut out the individual biscuits.  The school kitchen allowed the class to use the kitchen’s ovens to bake the biscuits.

Baking the biscuits was just the first step to their new business.  The students had to package the biscuits, make tags for the bags, and then make signs and order forms for their first sale. 

 

 

Their hard work paid off.  They have made a profit of $130 which they have given to ARNNE. They will continue their efforts by taking orders having a once a month bake day, and going to more Pet Adoption Days. Mrs. Andrews received a new recipe on Saturday for Cinnamon Apple biscuits.  She hopes to either make some of them or other flavors on their next bake day to expand their line of biscuits.  WOW, I can’t wait.  I know they are going to taste as good as the chicken biscuits they  made.

 

Mrs. Andrews class has become our first to receive Zuma’s community service certificate.  If your class is doing a project that benefits your community please write us and let us know.  We’d love to feature you on our site.

Hope to see you out on the trail,

Gypsy

It is Iditarod Season.  The mushers and their dogs have been training for a long time.  They are ready to race to Nome!  With sled bags almost packed and supplies waiting for them in checkpoints, with hopes, dreams, and plans in place, mushers will soon be heading to the starting line.  The race starts on Saturday, March 7.   The restart is on the following day, Sunday, March 8.  The race will end when the last musher reaches Nome.  Get ready for an exciting race, a race full of challenges big and small.

The Iditarod is a time of great challenges, challenges big and small.  Meeting challenges along the trail, the mushers race to Nome.

I’ve got a challenge for you.

Have you ever thought about what you can do to help make the world a better place?  I’m sure if you sit down and come up with a brain stormed list, you can discover lots of ideas about things you and your classmates can do to in your own communities.

My challenge to you, Boys and Girls, is to come up with a class project in your own community. Get involved.  Learn what it is like to help with a community project and take pride in your efforts.  Discover the results of working on a project.  Take pride in your accomplishments.

Here is one idea:  Animal shelters are always in need of supplies.   Gypsy, Sanka, Libby, and I have a special challenge for those of you who are interested in helping the pets in your communities to stay healthy.  Research about your local shelter.  Invite someone from the shelter to visit your classroom so you can learn more about the shelter.  Discover what their special needs are and how you can help.  Put a plan in action.

When your project is done, write to us and tell us what you did and why you did it.  You can even send us a  picture and we’ll put the picture and your story on the website.

We’ll send you a certificate thanking you for being involved in the 2009 Iditarod Community Challenge.

Don’t just sit there, friends!  Get your thinking caps on and come up with a project, any project that you want.

Just think what a wonderful world this can be if each of us  were to get involved in helping others—  in helping human or K-9 friends!

We can’t wait to hear about your projects!  Join our challenge!  Start your project on or before the start of the race and see if you can finish it before the last musher reaches Nome!

Lots of Tail Wags,

Zuma