Seven Dreams Education Foundation

Congratulations to all of our Hands-On Learning Grant winners and the Teacher of the Year and EA of the Year winners and nominees! Our community is lucky and thankful to include so many amazing educators!

PHOTOS: Claire Mielke is teacher of the year Robbinsdale Area Schools honored its top educators at a May 21 awards ceremony. The Seven Dreams Education Foundation presented 18 grants to creative teachers who proposed hands-on learning projects. The

All community members are invited and encouraged to join us Thursday at 4:30pm at Cooper High School lobby and auditorium to celebrate some of the amazing educators in Rdale at our 2026 Hands-On Learning Grants Celebration/RFT Teacher & EA of the Year!

Check out this wonderful update on a past Hands-On Learning Grant:

🪵"Loose Parts for the Big Rock Woods" was awarded to 4th grade teacher, Liz Kinville, at SEA School of Engineering and Arts in May 2025 to be used in the 2025-2026 school year.

"If we want children to love the earth, to become truly empowered, let us allow them to love the earth before we ask them to save it" (Sobel).

This grant was to build a loose parts outdoor classroom kit for use in the SEA School Forest to foster free play and independence. It includes items such as a mud kitchen, water table, funnel station and a magnifying station, along with a variety of loose parts for free play. These tools spark curiousity, creativity and open-ended engagement.

Learn more about the progress of more grants during the reception at our 2026 Hands-On Learning Grants Celebration/RFT Teacher & EA of the Year this Thursday at 4:30pm at Cooper!

We wrapped up our last round of grant patrol on Friday with stops to Robbinsdale Cooper High School, SEA School of Engineering and Arts and Zachary Lane Elementary. It was the perfect ending to Teacher Appreciation Week!

🔥 "Fire and Form: Cooper Spring Raku and Pit Firing" awarded to Jamie Molitor at Cooper for $3,500

🎭 "Way Down Hadestown" awarded to Grace Fremont at Cooper for $2,500

🃏 "Words to Opportunity Grant" awarded to Gretchen Enselein-Kraemer at Cooper for $1,000

✍️ "Wild About Writing" awarded to Tonya Larsen (with Martha Hovde & Tobi Kriefels) at SEA for $592

🎼 "Music is Limitless: Adaptations for the Center-Based Music Room" awarded to Beth Schultz at Zachary Lane for $1,750

Congratulations to all of the winners! We look forward to celebrating you at the 2026 Hands-On Learning Grants Celebration/RFT Teacher & EA of the Year on Thursday, May 21st.

It was another heart-warming day of grant patrol awarding Hands-On Learning Grants to educators across Robbinsdale Area Schools at FAIR School Pilgrim Lane, Robbinsdale Transition Center, and FAIR School Crystal!

📖 "One School, One Family: The Global Kitchen Club" awarded to Leslie Johnson (with Sarah Kelleher) at FAIR School Pilgrim Lane for $3,500

✂️ "Different Abilities, Unlimited Possibilities" awarded to Breanna Martins (with Dottie Gelting, Jenny Peterson & Amy Krolik) at Robbinsdale Transition Center for $1,500

🎻 "21st Century Orchestra" awarded to Karen Kozak at FAIR School Crystal to be used next year at Sandburg Middle School AND Plymouth Middle School for $2,150

🥘 "Functional Living Skills Program" awarded to Grace Needhum (with Jen Goetz) at FAIR School Crystal to be used next year at Plymouth Middle School for $2,500

Congratulations to all of these amazing teachers!

🥳The most exciting part of our year kicked off today! Seven Dreams Education Foundation grant patrol began awarding our Hands-On Learning Grants to educators across Robbinsdale Area Schools for the innovative learning opportunities they dreamed up and applied for the 2026-2027 school year!

We made surprise visits to Northport Elementary School, Lakeview Elementary School, Robbinsdale Area Schools Early Learning Programs, and Robbinsdale Armstrong High School. And this is just the start - nine more grants will be awarded this week thanks to the generosity of sponsors and the community at our annual Bird Bash Gala back in February, along with those who donated through the district's employee giving campaign!

✂️ "Learning by Design" awarded to Kathleen Rennan (with Jenny Cesarek) at Northport for $1,850

🌱 "Bring Learning To Life While Getting Your Hands Dirty!" awarded to Lannie Segebarth (with Danton Tyree) at Lakeview for $1,200

🪘 "Rhythms of a Community: Celebration through Drumming and Dance" awarded to Jennifer Hollander (with Melissa Spreeman) at Lakeview for $3,500

🎵 "Create, Explore, Play: Enhancing Outdoor Learning Through Music" awarded to Katie Brand (with Emily Maki, Laurie Dube, Andrea Bockenhauer, Chantel Vistad & Nicki Murphy) at New Hope Learning Center for $2,655

🤲"Regulation Tools for Our Youngest Learners" awarded to Alycia Tadt (with Emily Maki) at New Hope Learning Center for $2,049

🚲"Pedaling toward Partnerships" awarded to Debra Irrgang at New Hope Learning Center for $3,500

⚙️ "Engineering Discovery: Transforming Biology Education Through Hands-On Innovation" awarded to Deborah Shaikoski (with Ryan Sommers, Ben Balika, Lindsey Roehl) at Armstrong for $3,262

⚗️"Sludge 2.0" awarded to Dean Pogatchnik (with Sarah Horns) at Armstrong for $3,500

☕ "Rise & Shine Coffee Cafe" awarded to Lynn Xiong & Maria Ahlers at Armstrong for $3,500

Our educators in Robbinsdale Area Schools are amazing and go above and beyond every day, and we appreciate everything they do for our communities!

P.S. As a part of Teacher Appreciation Week, we will be starting our Hands-On Learning Grant patrol (the best part of the year when we get to award grants up to $3,500 for innovative learning opportunities to use in RAS schools and classrooms in the 2026-2027 school year!) More to come soon! 🥳