our programs

Our programs are designed in close coordination with our clients to meet the interests and needs of the school and students. We can focus on a number of different program objectives, and can meet those objectives through a number of different itineraries.

What remains consistent is our teaching model. Our model is derived from the Kolb Experiential Learning Cycle. We teach students the skills and knowledge they need to be able to complete a task or engage in a discussion. We support them as they try out these skills for the first time, and then give them space to make mistakes and succeed. We then provide feedback, coaching, and space for reflection, so that they learn from the experience, and are able to try again with more insight. 

Below are a list of program objectives that you can choose to emphasize, and a few sample itineraries that showcase these objectives.

Program objectives

Leadership: We believe that the outdoors is an incredible classroom for students to learn to be confident, self-aware, and compassionate leaders. 

How we do it: 

• Self-awareness: Building leadership starts with better understanding yourself—in particular, what you need in challenging conditions so you can remain present with your group. Just by living outside, students learn how to take care of themselves, whether it's figuring out how to regulate their temperature, hunger, and hydration, or how to keep their gear organized. In addition, they begin to understand what they need mentally to overcome obstacles presented by the natural world. Through lessons, we give them the tools to take care of themselves outdoors. Through group discussion and debriefs, we explore how to take care of ourselves mentally and emotionally. Through one-on-one coaching, we support students as they struggle and succeed with both.

• Confidence: Each day on a Kingue trip, we have anywhere from 2-4 student “designated leaders”. These “designated leaders” help our instructors plan the following day, communicate the plan to the group, and then are in charge of motivating the group and facilitating decision-making among their peers so that the group can accomplish its goals. Our aim is for all students to experience the designated leader role and see their capacity in leading their peers. Additionally, students take on leadership roles in their hiking groups, cook for their cook groups, and lead lessons on local flora and fauna.  

• Compassion: On Kingue trips, we operate as “una familia”. Students learn that they need every other person on their expedition. If you’re rafting in the Amazon, you alone can’t row the boat. If you’re backpacking in the Andes, you alone can’t carry all of your group's gear. Students learn to show care for the group by cooking a great dinner, giving each other encouragement, or scouting the route when everyone’s tired. They start to see the importance of seeing beyond themselves, valuing the people who are around them, and understanding their impact on others. 

Outdoor Living Skills 

How we do it: Our courses focus on developing strong outdoor living skills in all of our students, including learning how to navigate, set up camp, cook, manage risk, move safely through challenging terrain, and more. Our staff also can teach students wilderness first aid to further build their comfortability and risk management skills outdoors. 

Leave No Trace & Leave Good Trace

How we do it: Kingue is an official partner of Leave No Trace (LNT), and at least one instructor on all courses is an LNT Educator.  We teach students the Leave No Trace principles so that they can apply them both on this course and at home, building their environmental stewardship. Kingue has taken it one step farther than LNT, and has created the Leave Good Trace principles to make sure that our practices have not just a neutral but a positive impact on the environment.

Local Flora & Fauna

How we do it: Instructors and Kingue partners share their knowledge of local ecology informally on the trail and formally through lessons. In addition, students pick a topic prior to coming to the expedition, research it, and teach their peers about it while on the course. 

Connection with Local Communities, Cultures and History

How we do it: On all expeditions, we find opportunities to connect with local communities, whether it’s learning from Kechua chocolate makers about their craft, or talking with Andes fishermen about the mountains. Our instructors cover the human history of the different locations we travel through. Additionally, we talk about the social and environmental impacts of our modern society and explore how these play out at the places we are visiting.

Sustainability  

How we do it: 

Our courses strive to show students how to build a sustainable relationship with the planet. We do this in a few ways. First, we try to embody this in our own business. We look for ways to reduce our own impact, like housing our headquarters in repurposed chicken barns and using mostly ingredients from our garden and local farms to feed students when at our headquarters. When students are preparing for the course, we take the time to educate them about our farm. This can look a number of ways, including having them compare natural ecosystems to agricultural ecosystems and discuss how best the latter can mimic the complexity and sustainability of the natural forest; having them learn about the ways in which foods and herbs can be medicine for both humans and the earth; and having them experience working on the land, taking care of the cows and planting and tending to our medicinal herbs. Learning how to care for the environment extends to our courses. This includes embodying the Leave No Trace and Leave Good Trace principles to minimize our impact on the areas we travel through, and to push students to think about what they can do in their lives beyond Kingue to positively impact ecosystems close to home.