The Iditarod to Come to A.C. Moore Elementary

March madness is about to hit A.C. Moore Elementary School, but it has nothing to do with basketball.

Starting March 1 students will be rooting for their favorite teams, tracing their every move and boning up on every bit of team trivia they can find - essentials any sports fan can relate to. But the excitement and anticipation they feel is fueled by the Iditarod, the 1,125-mile Alaskan dog sled race which has become an annual school-wide obsession.

Although they can’t be with the Iditarod sledders thousands of miles away in the Alaskan wilderness, students at A.C. Moore Elementary will pick their favorite musher (the person traveling with the dog sled) and track their progress via the Internet when the race starts March 1.

To kick off this year’s Iditarod fever, the school has invited local musher Chapin Burgess and his husky sled dogs to visit the school on Friday, February 22, from 9 a.m. to noon. Burgess will bring his sled, mushing equipment and tales of adventure to share with the students.

Everyone at A.C. Moore joins in this yearly Iditarod madness. The progress of each musher is tracked twice daily on a huge map of Alaska hung at the school. There’s even Iditarod trivia broadcast during morning announcements where students learn what the dogs eat and how they fared or met some misfortune along the trail.

Besides learning about the geography and weather of Alaska, the Iditarod teaches students humanitarian lessons based on the mushers’ treatment of their dogs and competitors. But perhaps the best lesson learned comes after the race ends. When the race is over, teachers reward ice cream sandwiches to the classes that picked the top three winners as well as the class that came in last. Why does the last place class get a prize? Teachers say just as in many things in life, just finishing a task is a testament to perseverance and fortitude. Surely, that’s a valuable lesson we all need to apply.

The students at A.C. Moore Elementary encourage everyone to join their passion for the Iditarod this March. Pick a musher for yourself and follow the race!

For more information please contact the Richland One Office of Communications at 231-7504 or 231-7510.