When I was "promoted" to second, I found that one of the topics of study was Alaska. I knew nothing about this state, so I began to read all that I could. The more I read, the more fascinated I became. There was so much to learn - and such fun things to teach to my second graders!
Here is a photo of my 2000-2001 class.

As I delved into the study of Alaska, I discovered the "Last Great Race." Then I learned about Susan Butcher - the four-time winner from Cambridge, MA. I was getting more and more excited about Alaska, and the Iditarod. My excitement was of course contagious, so my students and their families caught the Alaska/Iditarod fever! Shortly thereafter, with the Internet, we were easily able to obtain lots of information, and the race became much easier to follow on a daily basis.

At this point I decided I had to visit this great state that I'd been teaching about, to see what else I could learn, and thus share, with my students and colleagues. So, my husband and I took a three-week vacation there in the summer of 1995. We loved it! We began our trip in Bellingham, WA, on the Alaska Marine Ferry (locally known as the blue canoe.)

We traveled up through the Inland Passage, staying overnight in Ketchikan, Sitka, Juneau and Skagway. In Ketchikan we spoke with Nathan Jackson, a world famous wood carver. We watched as he put the finishing touches on a dugout canoe. When he learned that my husband and I were from Boston, he told us that he had carvings at the Harvard Peabody Museum. We saw his work upon our return.

On our trip we saw the starting place of the race in Anchorage, visited the Iditarod headquarters and traveled to Nome, to see where the race ended. Standing under the "burl arch" was a real high point for me! We flew over the Arctic Circle and went to Kotzebue, where we picked berries on the tundra, saw salmon drying on clotheslines and participated in a blanket-toss at the museum.

Just outside of Fairbanks we met Susan Butcher and her husband on our boat tour. That was very exciting! I felt as if I already knew her! Also in Fairbanks we visited the University Museum and watched teenagers practicing for the annual Eskimo Olympics. Their races and feats of skill are held during the long winter and are based on Native traditions.

Another special experience was gold panning and riding on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad. This train was used for the Klondike gold rush. The ride was scenic and the climb to White Pass was steep!

During the three weeks we saw many spectacular animals: eagles nesting in the trees, otters, seals and whales in the sea, grizzlies eating berries in Denali and black bears gorging themselves in the salmon-choked rivers. In Sitka, we visited the Raptor Rehabilitation Center and met Volta, a wounded eagle that had flown into a high voltage wire.

I returned from the vacation with a wealth of information, craft items and books. I presented a workshop to the other second grade teachers in Belmont to share what I'd learned, along with my mementos, photographs and videos.

This fabulous trip personalized my curriculum but also made me want more, so we returned to Alaska for three more weeks in the summer of 1999.

This time we went to Homer and Seward, via the Portage Glacier. We ferried over to Kodiak, and flew to Katmai National Park to see the bears and the "land of 10,000 smokes." The volcanoes were very impressive and the grizzlies were awesome!

Once again we crossed the Arctic Circle and flew to Barrow. I wanted to celebrate my August birthday at the "top of the world!" It was fabulous.

We came home from this trip with many more wonderful memories and lots of paraphernalia collected along the way. I love sharing all of this with my classes!

The one thing I kept feeling I was missing was the firsthand knowledge of the Iditarod - the Last Great Race. Then, with the approval of Dr. Holland, Dr. Feinberg and Herb Baker I wrote a grant to the Foundation for Belmont Education and it was accepted. With this financial support I was able to make this teaching journey in March of 2001.