ECO Stewards

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Kathy quit her full time job in July 2011 to become a stay at  home/homeschool mom to her two children. Besides being a busy mother she  is also a devoted wife, blogger, fieldtrip expert, naturalist and  social media guru. Kathy's is passionate about getting children outside  and immersed in nature which she has been doing with her own children  since they were just a few days old. It is this passion that has driven  her to create ECO, so that other homeschool children can become immersed  in nature and learn more about the natural world around them.

Kathy  is an Outdoor Wildlife Leader, Conservation Leader, Master Naturalist  (in GA and AZ), National Geographic Certified Educator, Audubon  Volunteer, SMEEC Volunteer, Keep Nature Wild Ambassador and Treekeeper  with Trees Atlanta. She is certified in Project Wet, Project Wild,  Project Learning Tree, Aquatic Wild, and CPR/first aid certified. And  she is currently working on obtaining her Environmental Educator  Certification. She has completed over 450 hrs of professional  development training in the subjects of science and outdoor education.  You can view her creditials here.

When she is not tending to children or managing several homeschool group's across the USA, she enjoys volunteering, blogging, scrapbooking,  hiking, geocaching, arts/crafts, traveling and watching movies. Read  more about the Balman family homeschool journey on their blog, Kathys Cluttered Mind.

Brandi is a devoted wife, mother of 4, book hoarder and life-long learner. She homeschools her "A Team" (all of her kids names start with the letter A) who range in age from 5-15 yrs old. She has lived in AZ since she was 11 yrs old. She and her family love the outdoors and love exploring new and exciting places. She is a child at heart and her joy and excitement are what make her an amazing part of the ECO Steward Team. Brandi has attended several AZ Fish and Game Workshops and completed many online webinars relating to natural world. Brandi is CPR/First Aid Certified.

Kylie was born and raised in Arizona but didn’t fall in love with her  home state until a few years ago when her kids reached preschool age.  She noticed that her children learned naturally from observing the world  around them. She is a stay-at-home mom and currently pursuing  environmental education to learn more about nature and how we can be  aware and mindful while absorbing everything it has to teach us. She  unschools/wildschools her two kids and is passionate about cultivating  children’s love of nature, plants, and wildlife! You can often find them  outdoors, hiking, camping, exploring, getting wet, etc. Kylie and her  kids have been apart of Educating Children Outdoors for a year and she  is also a Free Forest School Facilitator. She loves journaling, reading,  cooking, doing yoga/meditating, and following the moon phases/seasons  with her kids! Kylie is CPR/First Aid Certified. You can view her credentials here.

Gwyndolyn is a nature-loving unschooler who hopes to one day work in wildlife conservation. She specifically wants to pursue being a Conservation Canine Handler and was inspired to pursue this career after hearing a  presentation by Working Dogs for Conservation.  She was born and raised for most of her life in Georgia and moved to Arizona in 2018 with her family. She has been an integral part of ECO since the beginning, because ECO was developed with her and her brother in mind. Gwyndolyn completed the ECO Explorers and ECO Navigators programs and is a current ECO Teen Naturalist. So naturally, it makes sense for her first  official job to be an ECO Steward. In her free time she enjoys art, reading and listening to music.

Gwyndolyn has attended several AZ Fish and Game Workshops and completed many online webinars relating to natural world. She has also volunteered with numerous organizations, including Adubon, Save The Horses, Maricopa County Parks, and Keep Nature Wild. Gwyndolyn will be CPR/First Aid Certified by Fall 2021.