Adams Elementary School in Minnesota proudly unveiled its new 'Little Red Pavilion' in the embrace of Redhawk Ridge—an outdoor learning space designed to inspire and educate. During a ribbon-cutting event on Nov. 21, the elementary school community celebrated the pavilion's introduction, which emerged through the joint efforts of the school's parent advisory council and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, as recounted by Coon Rapids city officials.

The 12-foot by 12-foot pavilion now provides a sheltered outdoor classroom to host the school's new forest program, allowing learning to spill beyond the four walls of traditional classrooms into the natural tapestry of the land; it is a testament to the community's commitment and the over $50,000 raised by the parent advisory council to bring the project to fruition, Haley Peterson, a second-grade teacher and the school’s forest lead, expressed immense gratitude for the PAC's "tireless effort" in making this dream a concrete reality, according to the City of Coon Rapids.

The initiative took root in April when Adams Elementary students planted trees around the pavilion, lending shade and serenity to the newly dubbed 'Redhawk Ridge' learning space. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources donated the trees, symbolizing an investment not only in nature but also in the future of student education.

Enhancing these green efforts, Michael and Pam Pagelkopf, master naturalist volunteers, gifted the school with 30 wooden field desks. Peterson noted how these desks were not just physical objects but tools for academic exploration, sharing with Coon Rapids city officials, "We used them quite often at the end of last school year,” Peterson said. “I know second grade used them. I know first grade, kindergarten science used them a lot."