Arctic Adventurer Inspires Kids With Sled Dog Tales
Pam Flowers talked about her cross-continent trip by dog sled, but delivered a message about life.
Set your goals high and never give up, she told students at Ness Elementary during an assembly last week.
Flowers, who lives in Wasilla, Alaska, and her team of eight Alaskan huskies two years ago traveled 2,500 miles across the frozen Arctic. The trip took 11 months and stretched from Barrow, Alaska, east to Repulse Bay in eastern Canada.
Since the trip, Flowers has spoken at elementary and middle schools around the country. Ness was one of about 50 stops along a speaking tour of Colorado, Utah, Idaho and Washington.
Students watched intently last Thursday as Flowers told the tale of her 2,500 mile journey and marveled when Flowers showed them slides of her dogs. A picture of Dougie Dog, a 12-year-old who led the team, drew a rousing chorus of “Whhhoooaaa!” from the 300 students.
“I have two Siberian huskies at home and we’re going to train them to be sled dogs,” offered third-grader Jenna Isherwood.
Flowers competed in the Iditarod sled dog race across Alaska in 1983. She hopes one day to sled from Greenland to Alaska, a trip that would span about 3,000 miles.
“That’s absolutely the longest I’d be able to sled,” she said.
Flowers learned to raise and train huskies while living on a dog farm for a year after moving to Alaska in 1981. When she left the farm, she purchased five huskies. Those five gave birth to the team of eight that pulled her across the arctic.
“Was it easy training your dogs?” wondered Jody Collins, a fourth-grader.
Not hard, just time consuming, Flowers told her. The male pups began training when they were three months old. Each trained individually until it was six months old and then with the team until it was a year old, when it became a full member of the team.
One of those dogs, Anna, is particularly special to Flowers. Anna was a year old and weighed only 45 pounds when the trip began on Feb. 14, 1993. Despite criticism from others about Anna’s age and inexperience, Flowers decided to take her on the trip.
By the time they reached Repulse Bay on Jan. 9, 1994, Anna had earned the spot of second lead dog. She was leading the team the day they finished the journey.
“It just shows you that because you’re little doesn’t mean you can’t do a lot,” Flowers told the students. “You just need a chance to try.”
Essay contest winner omitted
Last week’s notebook left out a Spokane Valley student who was a winner in an essay contest.
Whitney Porter, who is home-schooled, won second place among third-graders. Whitney, wrote a poem about what makes a family happy for a contest sponsored by Snyder’s Bakery and Southwest Airlines.
The contest, which 3,250 Spokane-area children entered, is held annually.
WV High choral concert tonight
West Valley High School’s concert choir and treble choir will perform a concert of popular songs from Broadway, film and television tonight in the high school auditorium. The performance begins at 7 p.m. and is free.
Orchard Center book fair
Orchard Center Elementary’s annual book fair begins today and runs through Wednesday in the school library. Hours are 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., coinciding with parentteacher conferences at the school. (Hours of both will be extended to 5:30 p.m. on Monday only.) Proceeds are used to buy new books for the school’s library. In years past, the sale has raised between $1,500 and $2,000.
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MEMO: Education Notebook is a regular feature of the Valley Voice. If you have news about an interesting program or activity at a Valley school or about the achievements of Valley students, teachers or school staff, please let us know. Write: Education Notebook, Valley Voice, E13208 Sprague, Spokane, WA 99216. Fax: 927-2175.