Welcome to Iditarod EDU!

Engaging lessons based on Insider video clips.


Our four-legged correspondents write for all ages..


Collection of all things Iditarod.

    
    
    
    

 

 

Latest EDU Posts

Introducing the 2025 Iditarod Teacher on the Trail™️

Join the Iditarod Education Department in welcoming our 2025 Iditarod Teacher on the TrailTM, Maggie Hamilton, to the elite group of educators to earn this honor.  After completing an involved and thorough application, and the selection process as a finalist in Alaska prior to this year’s race, Maggie accepted this year-long job. All finalists have …

Classroom Culture: Learning through Storytelling

Miriam Körner, the author of the young adult novel Yellow Dog, says, “There is a power that comes from personal story, and that power is strongest when it is shared through storytelling.” Körner lives in Canada with her husband, who grew up in northern Saskatchewan. The novel demonstrates the power of learning through storytelling as …

“Race Day!”: Engineering-Design and the Iditarod Air Force

My experience with the Iditarod as Teacher on the Trail has put me up close and personal with a facet of the race that people might not think about much: the Iditarod Air Force (IAF).  This is why I wanted to highlight the IAF in my March lesson. The race would not be possible without …

Writing Down the Miles

Iditarod 2024 is a wrap. I’m seated on the late evening “banquet flight” with volunteers, mushers, their families, and the Nome-Beltz High School boys basketball team on their way to the state tournament. It’s a 737 packed to the wingtips with stories, memories, tears, laughter, triumph, new friendships and quite a few Iditarod trophies and …

And Just Like That . . .

Hello friends, And just like that . . . it’s over. The 2024 Iditarod Sled Dog Race wrapped up with the Finisher’s Banquet on Sunday night, March 17 in Nome, AK.  38 teams began the race in Willow and 29 teams finished. Jeff Reid, a rookie from Two Rivers, AK brought in the Red Lantern …

Red Lantern: Committed Through The Last Mile

Why is the Red Lantern so important? The Lynden “Committed Through the Last Mile” Red Lantern Award recognizes the musher to make the last run from Safety to Nome.  It symbolizes perseverance and commitment to finishing, even though there are challenges. This morning at 2:22 am, I greeted Jeff Reid as he and his dogs …

What About Mushers Who Scratched?

Dear Friends, The 2024 Iditarod has officially ended with Jeff Reid coming in last, extinguishing the Widow’s Lantern and earning the Red Lantern Award for perseverance.  29 teams finished the grueling race across Alaska.  What about the nine teams who scratched, or had to quit, for various reasons?  What are Sean Williams, Calvin Daugherty, Aaron …

History in the Making

Imagine a thick quilt, covered in many squares, patches and fabrics, with layers of warm fiber nestled through, sewn together with thread. On this trip I’ve met so many people who are the threads holding the history of a place together. Their stories weave in and out of the fabric of time.  Change happens, and …

Pi-ditarod

Happy Pi Day! It was another beautiful day in Nome Alaska, and I am celebrating Pi Day by sharing all the ways that Iditarod is associated with pie. I mean pi. Well, actually, I mean both! Pi is the ratio of the circumference of any circle divided by the diameter of that circle. Pi is …

Dogs in Nome

Dear Friends, If you like math, here is a problem to solve.  As of Thursday evening, 24 mushers with an average of 11 dogs each  have crossed the finish line in Nome.  How many of us sled dogs have come into the town?  Nome is not a big city.  Where do we sled dogs go? …