Today marked the final day of the teachers conference. We loaded up and moved to the Lakefront Hotel, the location of the official Iditarod headquarters during the race. The hotel boasts a frozen lake that serves as a landing and take-off strip for many a small aircraft. Hustle and bustle is apparent throughout both the inside and outside of the Lakefront, but teachers found their way inside for behind-the-scenes action. That included presentations from various staff members and volunteers of the race including the Iditarod Air Force, Chief Veterinarian Stu Nelson, communications, or comms, specialists, and many, many more.
Guest speaker Susan Smith, who teaches in the tiny village of Takotna (also a checkpoint along the trail), spoke of the amazing opportunities and challenges her students and she face. The village of Takotna has a population of 52, and a school district that serves 16 pre-K through grade 12 students. Dynamic rookie musher, author, and Twitter guru Blair Braverman entertained the educators with her tales of being a beginning musher. She spoke with pride of the fact that she counts herself among the 31% of women who comprise the field of mushers. Her words made me feel glad that one of my students has been following her closely this year.
The looming sense of closure was beginning to envelope Kelly and I, so we headed back to town to pick up some last-minute mementos of our adventures. Here the streets were being prepared for the race by fencing off the entire 4th Street. Even though we wanted to stay for the entire staging event, which included dump truck after dump truck of stockpiled snow, exhaustion was starting to set in. After all, we have had an action-packed week, and the race hasn't even started yet. Stay tuned!
Guest speaker Susan Smith, who teaches in the tiny village of Takotna (also a checkpoint along the trail), spoke of the amazing opportunities and challenges her students and she face. The village of Takotna has a population of 52, and a school district that serves 16 pre-K through grade 12 students. Dynamic rookie musher, author, and Twitter guru Blair Braverman entertained the educators with her tales of being a beginning musher. She spoke with pride of the fact that she counts herself among the 31% of women who comprise the field of mushers. Her words made me feel glad that one of my students has been following her closely this year.
The looming sense of closure was beginning to envelope Kelly and I, so we headed back to town to pick up some last-minute mementos of our adventures. Here the streets were being prepared for the race by fencing off the entire 4th Street. Even though we wanted to stay for the entire staging event, which included dump truck after dump truck of stockpiled snow, exhaustion was starting to set in. After all, we have had an action-packed week, and the race hasn't even started yet. Stay tuned!