AR-News: (MA) State House honors Iditarod Teacher on the Trail finalist for 2005

[Glickman37 at aol.com]

Email MA State Reps: Rep.CharlesMurphy at hou.state.ma.us, 
Rep.JamesMiceli at hou.state.ma.us

Email Woburn Street School: 
FFerriero at wilmington.k12.ma.us,jpalermo at wilmington.k12.ma.us

Teacher in running for Iditarod 

By Richard Thompson / Staff Writer 
Wednesday, March 3, 2004

WILMINGTON - Teacher Lynne Gordon has plans to hit the trail - the Iditarod 
Trail.

The second-grade teacher at the Woburn Street School is one of three 
finalists for Teacher on the Trail, a learning experience for the nation's children 
centered on the Iditarod, the 1,100 mile dog sled race in Alaska.

"I've always followed the Iditarod," Gordon said. "It's very similar to what 
we do for the Boston Marathon."

Gordon explained the 26-mile Boston Marathon commemorates Paul Revere's ride. 
The Iditarod commemorates the Great Serum Run of 1925, when diphtheria serum 
was taken from Anchorage to Nome via dogsled.

"It still follows the same trail," Gordon said.

Being one of three finalists in the Teacher on the Trail competition, and the 
only Massachusetts teacher to make it that far, did not go unnoticed. Fellow 
teacher Nan Murphy told her husband, state Rep. Charles Murphy, D-Burlington.

Rep. Murphy, who represents Precinct 3 residents in Wilmington, and state 
Rep. James Miceli, D-Wilmington, were at the Woburn Street School last week to 
present Gordon with a certificate from the House of Representatives, 
congratulating the teacher on her achievement.

Gordon left for Alaska last Saturday and will be there until tomorrow. While 
there, she will be meeting with the "Teacher on the Trail" judges. She will be 
showing them what she plans to do if she is selected to be the 2005 Teacher 
on the Trail.

Gordon said the Teacher on the Trail spends the race, which can last weeks, 
flying from place to place, teaching the nation's children lessons that come 
from the race. Those lessons run the gamut of the average elementary school 
curriculum.

She said the Internet plays an important role for the Teacher on the Trail. 
The vast computer network carries the lessons from a trail in Alaska to the 
nation's schools.The first part of the process, Gordon said, was t fill out the 
application, which fit into a loose-leaf binder. She said the application 
included a statement from her principal, Robert Arsenault, that she can have the 
time off. It also included an answer to a question about small airplanes.

Gordon said the Teacher on the Trail flies from place-to-place in what she 
described as a small, two-seater airplane. The selection committee wants to know 
if the teachers are afraid to fly in small planes.

Gordon said she uses the Iditarod as part of her lesson plan.

"The children are attracted by the dogs and the culture," she said.

Her class produces "Dogs on the Trail," a newsletter tat follows the race. 
Gordon said it teachers her students how to write, conduct interviews and do 
research.

Gordon said she could learn if she has been selected to be the Teacher on the 
Trail by April 1. 


http://www.townonline.com/tewksbury/news/local_regional/tew_covwiteacher03032004.htm 


























































































































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