SEVEN DREAMS FOUNDATION

The Seven Dreams Education Foundation (SDEF) cultivates student success through hands-on learning opportunities in Robbinsdale Area Schools (RAS).

Make hands-on learning opportunities come alive by joining parents, community members and education professionals in supporting RAS through our independent, non-profit 501(c)(3) education foundation. Your dollars help all RAS learners succeed by funding innovative education initiatives that enhance individual skills and experiences through the Seven Dreams Education Foundation.

All donations go directly to making academic dreams come true in Robbinsdale Area Schools classrooms.

Here are some of the hands-on learning grants that we funded for the 2011-2012 school year:

• Growing Green Guardians – Meadow Lake Elementary

The rain garden will engage students through authentic science. The garden will be used for inquiry education and will serve as an outdoor classroom for life and earth science in perpetuity. In alignment with state standards, fourth and fifth grade students will investigate the water cycle and ecosystems, respectively. Additionally, first through third grades will investigate plant life cycles, systems, agricultural engineering, integrated pest management, ecology, and weather. Interdisciplinary skills from math and language arts will be vital. Students will grow and plant many of the garden's perennials and be part of something enduring and bigger than themselves.

• Literacy from the Start – ECFE

District parents with children between the ages of birth - age 5, living in the Eden Park Apartments community, will have the opportunity to work one-on-one with a parent educator/home visitor to discover how early experiences impact children's literacy skills. The parent educator will visit each family 4 times throughout the 2011-2012 school year.

• Asociación de Padres – Winnetka Learning Center

Native Spanish-speaking parents have expressed a desire during meetings held this year for their community to continue to work together in an Asociacion de Padres (Parent Association) to help their children be more successful in school. In order to continue this initiative, culturally appropriate meetings that include dinner and childcare are needed to remove barriers. We will assist in this process to improve parent communication and understanding between parents, the school district and the community by helping parent leaders in the brainstorming, planning, and implementation to form and lead parent meetings.

• Working Towards Independence - Special Education at Robbinsdale Armstrong & Robbinsdale Cooper High Schools

Working Towards Independence is a community-based work site program that allows students with special needs the opportunity to work in the community on a volunteer or unpaid internship basis, and receive a small stipend for the work that they do. Stipends will be paid on a quarterly basis and are based on several factors related to their work skills, such as attendance and following attendance procedures. Students will be assessed weekly, have opportunities to improve, and gain valuable experience in the community.

• Document Cameras for the Art Department – Plymouth Middle School

Many students learn best visually. With that in mind, we often instruct through demonstration in the art room. Because of class sizes and limited demonstration space, many students just can't see what the teacher is trying to demonstrate. We believe that installing two document cameras in the art rooms will solve this problem. Document cameras can display any object, display outstanding student work immediately, and allow the students to present their work to their peers in the classroom.

Why "Seven" Dreams? We are making academic dreams come true for the learners of the seven communities in the Robbinsdale Area School district: Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Crystal, Golden Valley, New Hope, Plymouth, and Robbinsdale.

Donate Now! Every dollar you donate is tax-deductible and helps us reach more students. For more information, visit our website at www.sevendreamsfoundation.org.

Thank you for your donation and support!