POULSBO — Members of the North Kitsap High School soccer team paused from their kicking for a few seconds Friday to behold a strange sight: a sled, pulled by a pair of white, fluffy dogs, cruising past the field on the other side of the fence.

Driving the sled was Indianola musher Don Duncan. Perched on the sled and wearing a pair of sunglasses was Poulsbo Elementary librarian Nancy Bale. And watching with wide eyes and murmurs at the end of the field were most of the students of Poulsbo Junior High.

Bale’s ride capped an afternoon-long visit by Duncan, a musher who has participated in races from Washington to Montana.

Duncan’s visit was spurred by the Iditarod, which students throughout the school are studying.

Each class has drawn the name of one musher, who they are following through each leg of the 1100-mile race, moving a small cardboard sled across a map of Alaska.

Duncan’s visit, complete with several sleds and sled dogs, was the high point of the unit. He gave presentations to several classes in the library.

Duncan showed a video of himself mushing over the snowy terrain of Montana. He brought along some of his equipment, such as a metal pot for melting snow; a plastic tank for holding water; an army Meal Ready-to-Eat, which Duncan takes along as his own food (“Eeeww,” said one student, beholding the uninspiring green bag. “Yeah, that’s what I say,” said Duncan, tossing it back).

He showed off snow shoes, a basket sled, and a toboggan sled, as well as his sleeping bags, ax, and head lamp that clips to a hat.

Duncan also answered several questions.

“Where do the dogs sleep?”

“My dogs are my family,” Duncan said of his 14 Samoyeds. “Some sleep on the bed, but most of the time they’re in my dining room and scattered around the house.”

“How do you tell the dogs apart?”

“I notice differences in them. Also, I give them different colored collars.”

“Can I have that dog?” One student asked, pointing to Duncan’s Samoyed which sat by the musher.

“No,” Duncan said with a smile.

After the questions, the students filed out to Strawberry Field and watched with awe as Duncan, with his sled pulled by two dogs, cruised over the gravel and grass towards them.

Bale, who helped arrange the visit and has coordinated the school’s Iditarod study, tagged along for the ride.

“I went home grinning from ear to ear. I was glowing,” she said.