After running the Iditarod, you would think my heroes would be the “big name” mushers that actually win the race. Maybe Martin Buser or Doug Swingley or Rick Swenson. Yes, I admire these mushers for their achievements in the sport, but my first two years as an Iditarod competitor has taught me to look beyond the obvious and famous role models. My inspirations are a little closer to home.
Last Friday, North Middle School teachers invited me to attend their 7th Annual Iditarod Student Race. Over the last three years, I have been lucky enough to meet hundreds of teachers from all over the country that use the Iditarod Sled Dog Race as an interdisciplinary teaching tool.
There is no better way to say it... these Iditarod teachers are awesome. Their energy for inspiring students to dream big never wavers. Mrs. Mary Somerfield, the creator of North Middle School’s Iditarod “madness,” has found creative ways to incorporate the Iditarod into everything the students study for around 10 weeks surrounding the real race up in Alaska.
“We incorporate the Iditarod into their math, science, social studies, english, physical education, shop, and art classes,” Mary told me at the start of her Iditarod race last week. “The students read 'Kavik, the Wolf Dog' in literature and figured math problems on the cost of mushing. They each picked an Iditarod musher’s name out of a hat and wrote journals the entire race as if they were the mushers.”
Enthusiasm is contagious, especially in the classroom. And Iditarod teachers are the epitome of “psyched” about what they are teaching. Last year, I spoke for a high school remedial english class in Indianapolis. It was literally the last day of school and I was worried the antsy students would just chew me up and spit me out, not wanting to sit around listening to some weird dog musher from who-knows-where.
What I found in that classroom was the complete opposite reaction. The students had just finished reading Gary Paulson’s book 'Winterdance,' the same book that peaked my interest in mushing 8 years ago. The walls of their classroom were plastered with maps of Alaska, hanging dog booties, portraits of dogs (even my lead dog, Pig), and newspaper clippings from past races. The teacher, wearing an Iditarod t-shirt, mukluks, and a giant fur hat, was reading aloud from Jack London’s 'Call of the Wild' when I arrived.
I stayed for 2 hours, answering questions about my rookie run of Iditarod. When the final bell of the school year rang, students didn’t get up and dash out the door. They came forward to give their “Iditarod teacher” good-bye hugs, thanking her for a fun year. At that school, it became obvious to me these teachers are heroes. Somehow, through their own excitement towards learning, they inspire their students to want to know more.
I was truly moved by North Middle School’s Iditarod Student Race last week. This was no small event. It obviously took weeks of planning and teamwork among the eight 7th grade classes involved.
For the mock Iditarod, students divided into teams and built “dog sleds” from refrigerator boxes that they would pull during the 1-mile race over the school grounds. The theme for this year’s race was the Hawaiian Luau and the dog sleds were beautifully decorated with pineapples, Hawaiian dancers, and ocean scenes.
One student from each team was picked as the representative to attend the “Iditarod Trail Committee” meeting where the students made all of their own rules for their race. The lightest classmate from each team was picked to be the musher that would ride instead of pulling the sled.
Each team was also given a raw egg that must be carried in the sled the entire length of the race course. The real Iditarod Race was created to memorialize the famous serum run to Nome in 1925, when diphtheria antitoxin was delivered by dog sled to save sick children in that remote village. The students decided an egg would act as the serum on their race. Because a cracked or broken egg meant disqualification, students suspended their “serum eggs” in tupperware containers filled with Jell-O or jars of peanut butter.
The creativity of the students and teachers at North Middle School was endless. The winning team finished the obstacle course in 14 minutes and 7 seconds (I finished the Iditarod in 14 days), snatching up the coveted pizza party prize. Awards were also given for best decorated sled, first team to the halfway point, the best journal, and the “Red Lantern Award” for the last place team.
Every time I do a school visit, I watch the “Iditarod teachers” with the their students and think, “I wish I had a teacher like that when I was young.” When people complain how our schools are going downhill, I can’t agree. Through Iditarod, I have met some of the most inspiring teachers in the world. The best of the best. True heroes.
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