Fullerton children get first-person perspective, lessons from the world-famous race

The sign welcomes visitors to the Iditarod race headquarters in Wasilla, Alaska.

Students at Fullerton Elementary School recently participated in authentic, hands-on-learning with a unique resource at their disposal – the internationally-known Iditarod sled dog race in Alaska.

Billed as “the last great race,” the Iditarod is considered the Olympics of sled dog racing. It follows the overland trail of “the great serum race” that took place in 1925 when mushers sped from Anchorage in the southern part of the territory to Nome in the north to save children from an outbreak of diphtheria. Hardy sled dogs provided the only feasible way of transporting the needed medicine more than 1,049 miles through blizzards, frozen water, and generally treacherous conditions.

Today, the race is known throughout the world as an experience in endurance and preparation. Fullerton Library Media Specialist Homeretta Ayala, who for 11 years has incorporated the fascinating story of the Iditarod into her library lessons for children, this year took her instruction to a new level – and latitude. During the Iditarod, she traveled to Anchorage to attend a special teacher’s conference. There, she worked with 25 other teachers from many states, including “Teacher on the Trail” Terri Hanke.

Across the event headquarters were reminders of the race’s unofficial motto: “Don’t let go! Never let go!”

Because preparation is a key lesson of the Iditarod, Ayala and her Fullerton students studied the race and its history, read children’s literature featuring sled dog racing and selected a musher to follow, all in advance of her journey north. Second grade student Matt G. came up with the theme “Balt-O-more to the Iditarod” as a way to remember the great sled dog named Balto.

Meanwhile, the famous race also captured the imagination of students at Middleborough Elementary School in Essex. Fifth-graders in Deborah Ridenour’s classroom, for instance, learned about the race by using various forms of technology to explore aspects of the competition.

Deborah Ridenour’s fifth graders at Middleborough Elementary School studied the Iditarod as it happened.

As the Middleborough students set out to determine the significance of the 1925 serum run, they also discovered the extreme hardships and challenges the mushers must endure as they compete. After researching information about the specific racers, the class collaborated to make predictions as to which mushers would finish in the top 12.

At Fullerton, students wrote letters to their selected racers, which were hand-delivered by Ayala. Fifth-grade students followed the exploits on the trail of author Gary Paulsen, while other student groups chose other mushers.

A musher prepares a sled dog for running

When she arrived in Alaska, Ayala was immediately caught up in the excitement of the event. She visited Linda Plettner’s dog sled kennel and participated in the vet check at Iditarod Headquarters in Wasilla. She spent an afternoon at the kennel and studio of Jon VanZyle, the official Iditarod artist and an illustrator of many children’s books. She met all the racers at the Musher’s Banquet, and she spent much of her time gathering ways to incorporate the sights, sounds, and experience of the Iditarod into her Fullerton curriculum.

While in Alaska, Ayala set up a blog site for her students, teachers, and parents to follow and e-mailed lessons back to Fullerton. Through her real-life lessons, students learned to convert temperatures from centigrade to Fahrenheit, calculate distances on maps, read race-related charts, and a multitude of other skills designed to stay with students long after the Iditarod.

And the Middleborough students’ lessons in probability – picking the top racers – proved accurate as well. Ten of the mushers they selected finished in the top 30. They also correctly predicted the first place finsher, Jeff King!

Ayala recounts two special highlights of her trip: “Meeting author Gary Paulsen and presenting him with the students’ letters and cards was awesome. He even stopped his session and phoned the fifth graders at Fullerton.

“The second highlight was being inside the race start with the press corps, something I was allowed access to through my association as a Good News Ambassador for Baltimore County Public Schools. Because I was a Good News Ambassador, I was graciously given a press pass and saw everything firsthand. Not only I did I come back with insights in learning, but I know that my students also benefited and will continue to do so.”

As she told her students throughout her experience, “The Iditarod is much more than a race; it is a study in character traits and values.

“The number one rule for any musher is to never let go. Never let go. This is a lifelong lesson for students and adults alike.”

Story and photos by Homeretta Ayala, library media specialist and Good News Ambassador for Fullerton Elementary School, and Douglas Elmendorf, assistant principal and Good News Ambassador for Middleborough Elementary School.