Iditarod comes to life for students

Prairie Valley seventh-graders get visit from sled dogs

By ABIGAIL McWILLIAM, Messenger news editor
FARNHAMVILLE — Prairie Valley seventh-grade students sat in the school auditorium Friday morning and proudly explained the details of Alaska’s famous sled race — the Iditarod.

For Trey Kehoe, the race is something he’d like to experience firsthand.

‘‘I’d like to train the dogs and have them lead me all the way,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s kind of exciting to find out what happens and what they go through.’’

Kehoe is among 45 students who will follow mushers online as they trek more than 1,000 miles of the most extreme northern terrain. The exercise is part of literature teacher Deb Benton’s Alaskan unit.

The great race took life for the students Friday when Ginger Plummer and Sherry Gay, of Cumming, brought three Siberian Huskies — Indy, Blu and Amber —to demonstrate sled-dog racing.

With a sled and all the gear that comes with it, Plummer and Gay demonstrated how a sled team might function. Plummer, a recreational musher of 35 years, and her friend Gay, who is a beginner, take to the trail every weekend.

Gay, who recently went on a rookie run with eight dogs, explained the importance of a tow rope. Gay had lost her hold on the safety device and instead clung to the sled as she was dragged 40 feet — on her stomach — through snow drifts.

‘‘The whole time I hung on because I didn’t want to lose my team,’’ she said. ‘‘It was a challenge, but with the right safety precautions (racing) is a total blast.’’

For Plummer, she said her interest in sledding blossomed when she and her husband bought their first husky.

‘‘One led to many,’’ she said.

Now the couple keeps 45 Siberian and Alaskan huskies on their acreage and regularly takes their teams on local bike trails. Additionally, Plummer runs a pet boarding and grooming facility. But to her, it’s passing on her knowledge that is golden.

‘‘I love visiting the schools,’’ she said. ‘‘The kids are so interested, and they can learn so much from just following the Iditarod.’’

Benton, their teacher, agrees.

‘‘I look forward to this every year,’’ she said.

Benton’s own interest in Alaska helps bring a personal knowledge to the unit. She and her husband, who previously lived in Alaska, have traveled there for bike excursions five times.

‘‘I always try to bring back something for this unit,’’ she said, looking across her classroom display of postcards, snow shoes, garnets and a seal skin. ‘‘It’s special.’’

As the students give a daily Iditarod report, including the musher’s last checkpoint and how many dogs remain on the team, the class will also begin reading Jack London’s ‘‘White Fang.’’



Contact Abigail McWilliam at (515) 573-2141 or amcwilliam@messengernews.net