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Iditarod!

Subhead
English lesson takes sixth-graders into this year's Alaskan sled dog race
Lead Summary
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By
Lori Sorenson

Sixth-graders in Deb Hoogendoorn’s English class have been reading “Woodsong,” an autobiography by Gary Paulsen, a northern Minnesota sled dog racer.
As the class discussed what they knew about sled dogs and the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, Hoogendoorn learned that Stacy Thone has a connection to a musher who is racing in the 2021 Iditarod Saturday.
Thone’s son, Coy, is in Hoogendoorn’s class, and she connected with her high school classmate, Alaskan musher Brent Sass.
Sass won the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest international sled dog race in Alaska in 2015, 2019 and 2020, and he placed fourth in the 2020 Iditarod.
According to his racing profile, he is well known for rescuing other mushers along the Yukon Quest trail throughout his dogsled racing career
Sass agreed to meet with the Luverne sixth-graders via Zoom Monday, and the students were ready with their questions.
For example, they wanted to know about the dogs, their names, their training and how they work together.
They asked about Sass’s favorite racing experience, how he handles the cold, what his sled is made of and how fast the dogs can go.
Hoogendoorn said she was excited to have Sass join her classroom and was grateful he took time for the students, despite his training schedule so close to the race.
The students will track Sass’s race progress through wildandfreealaska.com.

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