Robbinsdale Area Schools Community Education

📹 Did you know that each month Rdale staff from one of our schools or programs highlight and celebrate amazing things in our district in a presentation to the School Board? At the June 1 meeting, Director of Early Learning Emilie Levinson and some special student guests spoke about growing through nature and outdoor learning. Check out this month's Rdale Proud 👇

Rdale Proud June 1, 2026 - Early Learning - Growing Through Nature and Outdoor Learning Through Rdale Proud, Robbinsdale Area Schools staff highlight amazi...

Check out some of our upcoming classes at Cooper, FAIR Pilgrim Lane, and SEA School this June!

Learn more and register today by visiting rdale.arux.app or calling us at 763-504-6990.

🎓🎉 We're excited to share a week-long series of highlights on our graduates in the Robbinsdale Area Schools Class of 2026! 🎉🎓

Students combine coding and 3D design to bring their ideas to life! They’ll learn fundamental coding concepts while designing and personalizing unique trinkets using a 3D printer.

Learn more and register here: https://tinyurl.com/4hxxjub9

♟️Join other players in a fun, supportive environment to learn, play, and improve your chess skills! ♟️

Dates: Saturdays, June 13–July 25 (no class July 4)
Location: Cooper High School
Who Can Attend: Youth in Grades K–12

Learn more and register here: https://tinyurl.com/4nxj3bfn

As our Spring DIY Woodworking class came to an end, participants showed off their final projects consisting of a shadow box for someone's dog who recently passed, a Dungeons and Dragons table, an ottoman, an end table, planters, and an adirondack chair.

The common theme among participants, many of whom have taken this class for years, is how amazing the instructor, Brad DeKanick (pictured in the red baseball cap), has been throughout the class.

Brad, a retired woodshop teacher, who has taught in the district for over 25 years says he likes working with adults because they love to be here. He enjoys seeing their enthusiasm and how their confidence grows as they learn how to use the machines that bring their projects to life. One participant, Justin, who's working on an end table says, "I think Brad is my new best friend, he doesn't know that, and I don't know if he would agree with me, but he's been absolutely amazing to work with."

Everyone's story on how they came to register for this class is unique. Like Jean, who five years ago experienced a bad storm in her neighborhood taking down many of the trees in her and her neighbor's yards. Her neighbor, whose black walnut tree came down in the storm, was going to throw it away. Jean asked if she could take the wood. She said “I had this beautiful wood and I knew I had to do something with it.” From there, she signed up for her first woodworking class where she made a wine rack. She's taken almost every woodworking class since then making a bench, plant stands, and end tables. She's currently working on a shadow box for her son's dog who recently passed away.

Martha, who was able to get into this class at the last minute from the waitlist, has made three planters that she's planning to put along the side of her house. She found a template on YouTube on how to make them, but says she wouldn't have been able to execute her project without the help of Brad and the other seasoned participants in the class. There was a similar theme from participant, Mimi who was finishing up her adirondack chair. She said, “I’ve been a novice woodworker for a while but I kept running into issues with my projects. There are so many little tips and tricks that I’ve learned from Brad that they never mentioned in the YouTube videos I was watching.”

If you're looking for a reason to try something new, here it is! Taking a Community Ed class offers so much more than watching a how to do it yourself video on YouTube. You'll experience a seasoned instructor who is passionate about what they do, a community of people who have similar interests, and a new skill that you can take with you for years to come.

Take a look at our current offerings and try something new this summer! https://rdale.arux.app/

📷 Earlier this week, students on the Robbinsdale Area Schools Youth Council presented to district leaders on their research findings around supporting students' sense of belonging during transitions. As part of their research process, they lead small student focus groups at some Rdale schools, read relevant papers and studies, and finalized recommendations and priorities. The Youth Council also recently presented to the School Board at the May 18 meeting. ✨