Hickox, who has already been posting updates online, will share lesson plans using the Iditarod as a theme, as well as visiting schools and volunteering in villages used as checkpoints along the route. For the ceremonial start, he was an Iditarider, riding on the back of the sled of one of the participants, Ramey Smyth.

Hickox arrived several weeks before the race started and visited schools in the Anchorage and Mat-su Valley areas. He has been involved with the Jr. Iditarod, traveling with the handful of teenage mushers who took part in the 150-mile event.

In addition to teaching at Galvin Middle School, in Canton, Mass., Hickox enjoys the outdoors, particularly hiking, skiing, skydiving, and white-water rafting.

Hickox was one of two finalists for the role. The other was Teresa Campbell, a 5th-grade teacher from Virginia. The winner was announced in August 2018.

The Teacher on the Trail program began in 1998, with a fund-raising effort by Andrea Aufder Heyde.

The race began in 1973.