Scott began kayaking in 1995 while working as a raft guide for Holiday River Expeditions in Idaho during the summer months. From there he continued working on the rivers during the summers for Rendezvous River Sports in Jackson, Wyoming and paddling during the winter months while attending school in Oregon. In 1999 Scott began teaching English for Adventure Quest in Vermont, working as an assistant coach under Shane Benedict and Lee Leibfarth. Growing up next to the Clark Fork River, Scott’s passion for rivers began early and his love of kayaking extends from expeditionary boating to, most recently, time in his squirtboat. Scott grew up in Missoula, Montana where he finished high school before attending Gonzaga, Oregon State and finally Montana State University to get an undergraduate degree in Bio Medical Sciences with a minor in Literature. Following several years in Hood River and Bend, Oregon, Scott went back to school for a Masters of Teaching Education from Eastern Oregon University. Following his two and a half years with Adventure Quest, Scott founded World Class Kayak Academy along with four other teachers from that program (Erika Peterman, Whitney Lonsdale, Greg Campbell and Howell Cox). Scott's role with World Class has included everything from founder to janitor. In recent years he has taken on the Director role, which allows him to remain in Missoula for the majority of the year to spend time with his children, Disa and Gunnar. When not on local rivers, Scott will travel to visit the program during selected times throughout the school year to provide support for the school on location.

Kristi finished her Molecular Biology degree with the University of Colorado in 2000. After graduation, she moved to a small ski town in southern Colorado and started teaching math and science for a private boarding school called Crested Butte Academy. For the next four years, she lived on campus teaching and dorm parenting. Throughout her years working at CBA, she became Director of Residential Life and helped the schools accreditation process by documenting a Residential Life Curriculum required by the National Association for Independent Schools, NAIS.

She began kayaking in her first years working at CBA and started paddling with the school’s kayak club in the fall and spring quarters. Eventually she learned about a small private traveling high school based out of Montana for students passionate about kayaking. The school seemed like a perfect fit. Teaching, traveling and kayaking were three top passions for Kristi and eventually she was hired to work her first year with World Class in 2006.

Since then, Kristi has been traveling with WCKA full time. She has been all over the world, traveling, teaching, kayaking and exploring with teachers and students who have the same passion for the outdoors and running rivers. Her position at World Class evolved to Director of academics, as she continues her work on developing curriculum, training teachers and organizing class schedules every year.

Born and raised in Summit, Oregon; Capo was first introduced to the river through raft trips with his family. At 16, after completing raft guide school in Oregon, he began guiding on several of the state’s numerous rivers. On the weekends, he would drag whoever would go with him to kayak the Cascades. On the way to the Oregon Country Fair, Capo read about WCKA in Paddler magazine and announced, “Mom, Dad, I am going to apply for kayak school.”

Much to the surprise of his family, three weeks later, Capo loaded his van and headed to Tarkio, MT to begin his senior year at WCKA, the first year of the schools existence. Driving down the gravel road to Tarkio (WCKA headquarters before Crystal Springs) Capo came upon Nick Turner and Seth Warren, two long-time heroes of the sport. Later that night Johnnie Kern gave a slideshow of his recent adventure down the Tsangpo and it was then that Capo realized just what type of a program with which he had become involved.

Finishing up a great year in New Zealand and Ecuador, Capo graduated as class president and with a core group of friends that remain extremely close to this day. After graduation, Capo went to the University of Oregon to study journalism, but continued to be involved with World Class, joining the Board of Directors in 2005. While working on his journalism degree, Capo continued to pursue kayaking adventures taking trips to Uganda, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Colombia, Norway, Panama, Chile, and Canada. Capo joined fellow WCKA student Tyler Bradt along with Seth Warren for the Colombia-Ecuador portion of the “Oil and Water Project”. Two years later, Capo again joined his former classmates to do a 13-country tour of Africa called the “Africa Revolutions Tour”.

Capo continued to pursue his degree in journalism, shooting and producing a documentary film about U.S. foreign policy towards Colombia and its impact on the Colombian people called “Lo Demas Es Loma.” Capo graduated from the University of Oregon in 2008 with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Latin American studies. Capo then went back to Colombia where he finished the country’s first whitewater guidebook, Colombia Whitewater, published in 2009. Completing the full circle of his WCKA experience, Capo then joined WCKA as the Spanish and Literature teacher for the 2009/10 school year, a year in which WCKA went to Peru for the first time.

In 2001, Ben started his kayaking career in the modest Midwest. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, the Wolf River is where he was introduced to moving water, while working for Bear Paw Outdoor Adventure Resort. There he learned the finer points of the flatwater cartwheel and the “bottom brace”. After his first few summers as a rapidly progressing kayaker he made his way west to Bozeman, Montana. There he learned the art of the boof and the Pan-am. After completing his degree in Mechanical Engineering he found himself at the doorstep of a golden opportunity. The position for Summer Sessions had opened up and Ben stepped in as the leader. After a successful summer, Ben moved up to a full-time position as Head Coach, Physics, and Calc teacher. Since joining the WCKA faculty he has accompanied the team to Peru and Chile during the 2009/10 school year. Highlights for Ben during these semesters included a first descent with fellow teacher Capo Rettig and senior Erik Johnson on the Urabamba River, along with the successful descent of two incredible 5-day self support kayak trips. On any given day at World Class you can find Ben dealing out push-ups, laughing at one-liners, or leading the group down a rapid. He is most passionate about coaching students to be their best on and off the water, whether they are working on flat spins, physics problems, pistol flips, or how to keep the noodles from sticking to the pot, which he apparently does to the liking of his students and fellow teachers – Ben was voted Teacher of the Year in 2010.

After graduating from Durango High School in 1992 Orion Chapman had his first taste of international travel as a Rotary Club exchange student in Venezuela. It was a pivotal year that would instill a love for world travel and the Spanish language. An undergraduate degree in Spanish (2000) and teaching licensure (2004) from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado followed. Orion paddled his first kayak in 1988 and fell in love again, although several years would go by before he would seriously dedicate himself to the sport. With the Animas River flowing freely through his hometown, Orion became an avid whitewater paddler and instructor. He spent numerous summers teaching kayaking with Four Corners River Sports and safety boating for local raft companies. Orion’s international travels have taken him throughout Latin America including: Costa Rica, Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador, Argentina and Chile. He spent two semesters with WCKA in 2005 and 2006, and thoroughly enjoyed being able to teach Spanish while immersed in the language and culture during travels to Chile and Ecuador. For him there is no better classroom for language or the sport of kayaking than that offered at WCKA.

Kiley was introduced to whitewater while rafting with her family on the beautiful rivers of West Virginia when she was fourteen years old. After a few seasons and running the Upper Gauley at “super high water,” her mom decided she wanted to try “one of those small plastic boats” and never looked back. Before long, the whole family was kayaking, and their weekends were full of family road trips from Michigan to Pennsylvania, West Virginia and East Race Waterway in South Bend Indiana. When she was seventeen, Kiley discovered the Ottawa River (again…due to her mother’s explorative nature) where her passion for kayaking bloomed.

After graduating from Plainwell High School in 2002, Kiley began working for Liquid Skills Kayak School. During her four seasons there, she learned the more logistical side of kayaking and how to plan her own expeditions. In those same years she spent a lot of her time bouncing between various cities in British Columbia and the Ottawa.
After completing a year at Okanagan Valley College of Massage Therapy in Vernon, BC, Kiley moved closer to home to finish her degree in Biomedical Sciences at Western Michigan University. She graduated in the Spring of 2009 and headed to Colorado where she works during the summers for Telluride Academy, a non-profit outdoor education program for kids. Through this experience she solidified her desire to teach and play outside…at the same time.

She spent the 2009/10 school year substitute teaching in classrooms for students with special needs and kayaking in South America. While on her travels in Chile, she got the great pleasure of spending time with a phenomenal high school that combines her passions for kayaking, teaching and traveling. A seed was planted and she sent in her resume.  Kiley is excited to challenge, inspire and lead young minds as they explore the joys and hardships of education - with adventure travel.