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Trail Mail Project Update

School Projects Head to Nome

by Diane Johnson

03/09/2008

Trail Mail School Project Update

What is in the musher's sled bag?  You know that there are required items that must be in each musher's sled.  Did you know that one of the items is a promotional packet sometimes called Trail Mail or Iditarod Cachets?  Did you know that in the trail mail packages, wrapped in plastic and secured with duct tape, along with Iditarod promotional materials, contain school projects from around the world?

Each year, Leo Rasmussen of Nome, conducts a project for classrooms, inviting them to get involved in the Iditarod by sending a project to Leo.  The projects are placed with the promotional materials that are carried in the musher's sled. 

This year, 151 school projects arrived in Nome.  On Friday, February 29, Leo was at the Millennium with the trail mail packages.  Leo and his volunteer were busy organizing the trail mail promotional packets and putting the musher's bib numbers on the packages.  Leo stated that he was very pleased with the record number of packages that had been sent to him this year, making it possible for most mushers to carry two projects in the trail mail.

When each musher arrives in Nome, the trail mail of promotional materials will be collected.  The school projects will be sorted out and later sent by postal mail back to the classrooms submitting projects.  What excitement there will be in the classrooms when the mail is returned to them! 

If your classroom was involved in this year's project, drop us an email when your project returns to your students.  We'd like to hear what project you did and who carried your project from Anchorage to Nome.  We'd like to share with our readers, the kinds of projects that went to Nome, so teachers can start to plan their projects for next year.  This is an incredible way for classrooms around the world to be 'in the race'.  Thanks to Leo and his volunteers for all of the work that is done to connect schools to the trail through his project.

Tuck this project idea away in your planner for next year and bookmark the following website which gives information about this project.  Some of the project schools are located on the following website, as well as information as to which musher is carrying the trail mail.

http://www.leaknomeak.com/IditarodEducationalProject.htm

You can read about the mandatory items in the sled and other race rules by clicking the tab:  For Mushers and then downloading the race rules.  http://www.iditarod.com/mushers/iditarodrules.html