KES (Kinesiology, Engineering, Sustainability) is a systems-based STEAM outdoor education framework that connects classroom learning to real-world outdoor experiences. Students explore how human movement, equipment systems, and environmental impact interact through hands-on activities like climbing, hiking, and field exploration.

Instead of learning these areas separately, students engage with them as one connected system—applying concepts in motion, in context, and in real time.

KES Programs are the applied delivery of the framework through Escalera Academy. Each program combines:

• Workshops & labs for foundational learning

• Field experiences for real-world application

• Reflection to connect experience to understanding

Every program is built around a featured outdoor activity. These experiences serve as living classrooms where students connect academic concepts in science, movement, and sustainability through direct, hands-on experience.

KES is built on the belief that students learn best when they can see, do, and understand simultaneously. By connecting instruction to real-world application, learning becomes active, relevant, and transferable beyond the classroom. Students strengthen critical thinking skills while developing a deeper understanding of how human, engineered, and environmental systems are interconnected.

Each program follows a structured learning arc centered on a featured outdoor activity, integrating labs, workshops, and applied learning experiences. Through partnerships with local outdoor companies, guest experts, and higher education institutions, students engage in hands-on experiences that provide meaningful mentorship and aim to inspire the next generation of outdoor educators, engineers, gear designers, and sports medicine professionals.

Community guest experts and higher education partners further enrich this experience by offering insight, mentorship, and specialized knowledge. These partnerships also expose students to lesser-known STEM career pathways, broadening awareness of opportunities in related fields that they may not typically encounter in traditional education settings.

Grounded in a holistic, embodied approach, our programs build confidence, critical thinking, and a deeper understanding of the systems that make recreation possible.