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Iditarod Finishers Banquet

North Carolina Style

by Martha Dobson

04/14/2008

To wind up Iditarod in our classroom, we held a Finishers' Banquet the Friday after the actual banquet in Nome. Since I teach middle school on a block schedule, we held three banquets, one for each of my English/Language Arts classes.

Two days before our banquets, each class decided on the table decoration to place on the desks which would be pulled together to make large banquet tables. First block chose red lanterns, second block chose a replica of the finisher's belt buckle, and third block chose sled dogs made of paper and stuffed for a puffy appearance. See the pictures for samples of the decorations. I provided a red lantern outline, an example of the finisher's buckle, which I found on www.buserdog.com, and the paper sled dogs. The lantern and belt buckle decorations had poster board taped to the back so the decorations stood on the desks.

Students also decided to make race bibs for themselves which we autographed during our banquet, and students were responsible for bringing healthy snacks for our meal.

The day before the banquet we were busy creating the table decorations and bibs. White bulletin board paper folded in half with an opening for the head cut out served as the basis for our bibs. Students used an actual race bib that I have as a model for their own; some students made their own sponsor logos, and everyone used the bib number of the musher they had followed during the race.

The burled arch and the finish line banner, created by two small groups of students, decorated the classroom door, and we had photo opportunities in front of the arch during our banquet. Students modeled their autographed bibs in the pictures.

As happens at the actual banquet, the food was enjoyed and visiting with friends was a great hit. They had a great time autographing each other's bibs, and the class that made the belt buckles discovered they could "wear" the buckles by tucking the poster board stand at their waists.

While they ate, we watched Iditarod Insider videos of the awards presented at the Finishers' Banquet. The Golden Harness Award video provided a super opportunity for the students to practice drawing conclusion skills as they watched Ramy Smyth accept the award, attempt to speak, and then leave the stage. As a class, they brainstormed why he would have left the stage, took information from what they saw and heard, as well as their own experiences with animals, and concluded that he was emotional about this award because his dog, Babe, has meant so much to him over a long period of time.