EarthKind® continues to spotlight the nation’s leading Eco-Educators with its Harmony Hero - Year of the Monarch Campaign
Dallas, Texas -- Through its Year of the Monarch initiative, leading plant-based pest prevention brand EarthKind® is thrilled to announce its October Harmony Hero winner is Kim Aman, a trailblazer in outdoor garden-based education in North Texas.
Launched in January 2021, EarthKind’s Year of the Monarch initiative is a collaborative national effort to recognize and support leading environmental teachers across the country, as the brand helps preserve and protect the threatened monarch butterfly population. At the heart of the initiative is the Harmony Hero Award program. Each month, through a rigorous nomination and selection process, EarthKind® recognizes one eco-educator who is committed to implementing impactful curriculums focused on getting kids outdoors and connected to nature at an impressionable age.
Aman’s organization, Grow Garden Grow, works with 13 schools in North Texas to teach around 3,000 students each month to become more eco-literate, more connected with nature, and to become advocates for the planet. Aman particularly strives to educate her students about Monarch butterflies on their migration journey in North Texas, and about the environmental threats to their population.
“Monarchs are highlights of our program. The twice a year migration of the Monarchs are spectacular events in our gardens that are prepared by planting milkweed and pollinators. Students track migrations, gather data and tag them for Monarch Watch research every year. We celebrate them on every level and pause to enjoy them as they flutter through our gardens,” comments Aman.
Aman also has taught her students to how to be mindful about their usage of resources and water, how to compost, investigate soil, and how to look for season patterns in nature. 
She adds, “The biggest takeaway that students gain from our garden programs are the magical connections with nature. These days many students spend much of their days indoors and in front of screens. Connecting kids with the earth and all of the cycles and systems that happen are really quite fascinating and easily overlooked, unless they are led to open their eyes to what is happening in their world around them,” noting that, “Our program provides these opportunities and works to create kids who care about the earth and all the beautiful creatures that are part of it. Creating healthier, happier and smarter kids is what we aim to do.”
During the pandemic, Aman also decided to start the North Texas School Garden Network. The organization works with different school communities to help build, maintain, and sustain gardens and to welcome the Monarchs when they come through town during their migration.
“Teachers are our unsung heroes. Day after day, they prove that getting kids into nature is the best thing we can do for them and for our own future. Instilling passion about protecting and living in harmony with nature is what EarthKind® is all about, so seeing this flourish under our Year of the Monarch campaign is beyond rewarding,” comments Kari Warberg Block, Author, CEO/Founder of EarthKind®.
Each awarded Harmony Hero will receive complimentary in-service training from an entomologist on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices for their school, an eco-driven approach to pest prevention that reduces pesticide-use, along with sustainable product essentials for their outdoor curriculums from leading brands like S’well, Burt’s Bees, Patagonia, and more. At the end of the year, one teacher in the Harmony Hero program will win the grand prize of an all-expense paid trip to Mexico in March 2022 to visit the Kingdom of Monarchs habitat, where they will witness the amazing migration of millions of butterflies.
To watch Kim Aman’s Harmony Hero Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mePY4VSRAv4
To Nominate a Teacher for the Harmony Hero Award: https://www.earthkind.com/harmony-hero-award/
For media inquiries and more information on The Year of The Monarch campaign, please contact Sara White at sara@adinnyc.com or 914.621.1323
About EarthKind®
Founded by leading pest prevention expert Kari Warberg Block, EarthKind® is a pioneer in natural prevention for families and households everywhere. EarthKind® is a pest prevention brand that manufactures Naturally Smarter® pest solutions that are guaranteed to keep pests away, without killing or poisoning them. All EarthKind® products are designed by inventive artists, scientists and engineers who care about the earth, made in the USA with 80% of the materials sourced from American farms and the company is providing handicapped individuals with meaningful employment. Kari was awarded the 2019 GMDC Retail Champions of Change award for her role as an inspirational industry retail leader, and was named to the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Woman Class of 2012, 2013 ND SBA Small Business Person of the Year and National Second Runner Up. Her latest product line, Stay Away® was the winner of the 2015 NEXTY People’s Choice Award for Best New Product of the Year.
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