The Iditarod is a 1,150-mile sled dog race across the Alaskan wilderness. Mushers travel from Anchorage to Nome on what was once a mail and supply route serving remote mining camps.
The 2010 Iditarod begins March 6 and ends when the last team of musher and 12 to 16 sled dogs reaches the finish line —often more than two weeks later.
The Junior Iditarod is a 160-mile race for mushers ages 14 to 17. It begins Feb. 27 in Wasilla. The turnaround point is Yentna Station Roadhouse, where competitors have a mandatory 10-hour layover rest before setting out for the finish line in Willow.
Newly retired third-grade teacher Donna Kingsley took her passion for the famed race and made it part of the Alaska unit of her Livonia Primary School classes.
"I believe in cooperation in the classroom and teamwork and team-building," said Kingsley. "I'm an animal lover, and many years ago I had a Husky dog. I thought the Iditarod was all-encompassing," she said.
Kingsley's students learned cooperation, decision-making and team work by running their own Iditarod, acting as both musher — the human guiding the sled — and dogs.
Each year several classes participate in the The Livonia Primary School Iditarod. The race covers a trail behind the school and takes approximately one hour.
Kingsley divided her students into random teams, which had to choose their own musher. Students acting as dogs learned race terminology — when to go, when to stop and which way to turn, in order to cooperate with the musher's directions. Other students acted as veterinarians, examining the "dogs" at checkpoints to ensure they are healthy enough to continue the competition.
One child served as mayor, who, just like the mayor of Nome, greets each team at the race's end.
Kingsley called the abbreviated race the perfect lesson in cooperation and teamwork.