Iditarod School Talks

Anticipated Reunion

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Mrs. Christie Smith’s Second Grade Class

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Karen, Christie Smith, Isaac Smith, and Noggin

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Karen, Keith Grant (ICES Principal), Dr Tim Edsell (Superintendent of Indian Creek Schools), and Noggin

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Karen and Dr. Tim Edsell (somewhere under all of those layers!)

After reminiscing with retired second grade teacher, Judy Misiniec, and current-day second grade teacher, Christie Smith, we figured out that I’ve been visiting Indian Creek Elementary in Trafalgar, Indiana for at least 16 years! Judy was a teacher devoted to bringing outdoor adventure into her classroom through the Last Great Race curriculum, and her passion for the annual Iditarod unit wore off on other great teachers at her school. Every year I look forward to returning to Trafalgar to see my friends and bring a little of that outdoor mushing magic indoors to the students. This is Noggin’s second year visiting Trafalgar but she already considers it home.

More from Mt. Healthy

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The enthusiastic teachers from Mt. Healthy sent us more photographs from yesterday’s talk. I always LOVE getting photos—it’s difficult to take them myself during the presentation, and Noggin has yet to master the smart phone camera. The students, well-prepared for our visit, offered up many fun and thoughtful questions. We could have gone much longer than the 1.5 hours allotted! The teachers plan to follow the Iditarod Sled Dog Race with their students. Don’t forget the race begins March 3rd … MUSH!

Bundle Up!

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The 1000-mile Yukon Quest is happening RIGHT NOW! Follow the race at www.yukonquest.com. Everyone always asks me if I’ll ever run the Iditarod again—this is the race I’d love to experience at some point in my life. BIG country, great people, and challenging terrain with a “smaller” 14-dog team (Iditarod is a 16-dog team)—I’ve always found the Yukon Quest intriguing. The Quest website has beautiful videos from past races. Click on their Youtube channel to live a little bit of the trail yourself …

The Iditarod starts on March 3, 2018. Follow the race at www.iditarod.com. Teachers click on the EDUCATION page to follow the Teacher on the Trail, watch videos, and access  race resources. Throughout the race, I also frequent the Anchorage Daily News website (www.adn.com) for free daily updates and beautiful photography.

I still have some dates open for Iditarod school or public library talks at your location OR via Skype. Contact me now (mymusher at Yahoo dot com) to set a date!

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Romano is Still Skyping…

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Romano might be pushing 15 years old but he’s still Skyping and loving it! This will be my 18th year presenting Iditarod talks at schools and public libraries across the country, and my third year giving presentations via Skype. Email Romano now at mymusher@yahoo.com to reserve a date on his busy schedule…

Eiteljorg Museum Moments

Photos from our talks at the Eiteljorg Museum’s Exhibit — DOGS: Faithful and True —have been trickling into my INBOX. Here are a few…

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Future musher, Katelyn Harvey, looks like a pro behind my Iditarod sled.

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Noggin receiving some loving at Friday’s Eiteljorg school talks.

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Thank you to everyone who attended our presentations. Noggin and I enjoyed seeing old friends and making new ones. See you up the trail!

Noggin Is Getting a Big Head

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Noggin is finally starting to get the hang of posing for photographs which was a good thing last Thursday night at our talk in Hope, Indiana. We had a fun crowd at the Bartholomew County Public Library (Hope branch) and everyone wanted shots with Noggin, the rowdy star, who for once didn’t snooze on her bed the entire talk, but instead browsed the aisles looking for a good book. She is a VERY smart dog, you know!

A big hug and thank you to our friends, Sue and Larry and GOAT, for stopping in and surprising us. We always love seeing you. Goat, Romano’s brother, is quite the sweet talker and has the most creative vocabulary of ANY dog I know. Noggin was quite impressed!