Tonya and Rich Mandl, a.k.a. "Rhymin' Reason" are the 2005-06 Southern California Environmental Educators of the Year!

Rhymin' Reason performing at the LAEEF

Rich and Tonya contribute much to the field of environmental education through their music, their teaching, and their examples in environmental education and action.

They reach a wide audience through their music at various southern California events, such as the LA Environmental Education Fair, Jane Goodall’s Roots and Shoots Festival at the Huntington (they wrote a song for her birthday and got to sing it to her!), Earth Day events, School concerts, and of course, AEOE conferences. Their music inspires us to sing and play along, and also tickles our imaginations and curiosity as we think about the subject matter. With the release of their music on CD, they have the potential to reach a yet wider audience with their fun message of learning about and caring for the Earth.

They are not only a great singing/songwriting pair for EE music, however, they are both teachers "in the trenches" of LAUSD, and bring the message of environmental education to their classrooms and share in AEOE’s vision of getting students outdoors to learn: Tonya is now school garden coordinator and teacher advisor for the LAUSD nutrition network, which means she's the school garden representative for LAUSD, and she promotes school garden implementation at the district offices and at the LA environmental affairs department. As I’ve learned my first year as a classroom teacher – classroom teaching is not an easy job!! One has to be dedicated to children, to teaching, and to learning to become a better educator every day. For them to be able to teach AND create their wonderful music, AND be involved in AEOE and other organizations, is an inspiration.

Rich and Tonya are also excellent role models of environmental learning and action. They have been planting supervisors (volunteer) for Treepeople for many years, and they went on an Earthwatch expedition, where they did work for the environment while learning, but they didn’t stop there. They came back and shared their experience through articles in the AEOE newsletters and AEOE workshops. They also share their love of music by teaching EE music workshops. And this year, Tonya is the Keynote Coordinator for the 2006 AEOE Spring Conference in Malibu - and is doing a terrific job! She has secured Richard Louv, author of the much acclaimed book, "Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder" as our keynote speaker. They also organized the moving and inspiring closing ceremony at the wonderful 2005 Southern Fall Conference. Tonya and Rich are truly generous with their knowledge and skills, inspiring others to become better teachers, learners, and stewards of the Earth.

Rich and Tonya Mandl are very deserving of the honor of being named Southern California Environmental Educators of the Year!!

The Mandl's Write:
We want to thank you again for the EE'r of the year award.  It was completely unexpected, and we were thrilled and delighted to receive this honor.  The plaque (which is beautiful) is going up on our wall, and we already feel renewed vigor and determination to do even more for environmental education - the drive home was a great venue for us to hatch some new plans.

But most important to us is the warmth and friendship from all of you. You are a part of our consciousness, and we look forward to many years with you; here's to new bonds, and the deepening of our old ones.

(nomination and article by Maggie Wolfe)