About Us

Kinex Academy is a year-round skill development and training organization devoted to the study and advancement of state-of-the-art athletic and creative expressive art skill training and education. Through independent research study activities... application of new technologies... and, development of new specialized training programs and training aids, Kinex Academy seeks to provide valuable resources for the development of kinesthetic, creative and emotional talents in children ages 5 to 17.

Gerald Gowan founded Kinex Academy International in 2005. Mr. Gowan, professional trainer/mentor, with a Masters degree in Movement and Creative Expressive Art Therapy, BA in Physical Education and Psychology, Certified Movement Analyst CMT, has over 20 years of experience coaching, motivating and helping children find their gifts in athletics and the Creative Expressive Arts. Mr. Gowan has work as a psychiatric rehabilitation therapist and non-verbal- communication consultant at hospital, residentail treatment centers, schools and in private practice in Canada, England and the USA. Mr. Gowan is a former member of the 1980 Canadian National Track and Field Team and founder of Kinexcamps, the All Stars Track & Field Club, All Stars Basketball Club and the NorBay Basketball Association League.

Form more than 10 years Mr. Gowan has volunteered with local Marin County Schools and organizations such as Catholic Youth Organization, Mill Valley Soccer Club, Southern Marin Lacrosse Club, YMCA, Mill Valley Little League, and Tam High School Track & Field team. Mr. Gowan still actively teaches and coaches children individually and in small groups along with the Kinex Academy Coaching staff in after school enrichment programs..

Mr. Gowan has developed a variety of unique therapeutic, psycho-educational and sports skill training programs at different schools, gyms and dance/movement studios in Canada, England and the US.

• GoodSPORTSrunning™ sport specific running technique training and SAQ, Speed Agility, Quickness Training.
• GoodSPORTSmotions™ sport specific movement analysis and video training system for teaching young athletes how to fine-tune and improve their sport specific movements through better body awareness and movement observation skills.
• Kinex Playground Track & Field, which is a multi-age team program for children between the ages of 5 to 11 teaches basic movement skills of running, jumping and throwing while reminding children that no matter what your size or skill level everyone is important for the success of the team.
• GoodTHEATREsports™, based on contact improve and socio-drama techniques for teaching emotional and social intelligence while helping children enrich and develop their communication skills.
• GoodSoccerKicks™ workshop and the GoodShooter™ Basketball Workshop training programs are multi-week program of four 75-minute training sessions that focus purely on shooting mechanics. These training sessions provide structured, progressive and repetitious instruction utilizing the results of our recent research into the best practices and concepts being offered today in the area of shooting mechanics in soccer and basketball. We have taken what we consider to be the best elements of pure shooting from each of a number of different respected sources.

A few of the dancew/movement psycho-educational programs include:

The Kid Power Hour: Kindergarten - 5th Grade
Tools for developing emotional maturity, positive self-expression, socialization, self-esteem and behavior management are taught through role-play, adventure stories, puppets, character development, costumes, masks and other fun, creative arts activities.


---

If You’re Angry And You Know It...: Kindergarten – 5th Grade and Parent
Specific strategies and interventions are presented in a fun and creative manner to help you and your child find positive and appropriate ways to process, express and control anger.


---

Anxiety Management: Kindergarten - 5th Grade
Specific cognitive and behavioral strategies combine with creative arts, role-play and meditation techniques to provide your child with the tools needed to cope with anxiety and phobias.


---

The Power To Lead: 6th – 8th Grade
Creative arts, role-play and fun group encounters help early adolescents gain individual empowerment, self-esteem, leadership skills, social skills, and positive self-expression to more effectively deal with the challenges of family life, peer pressure and school.


---

E-Motions: 6th – 8th Grade
This dynamic movement exploration group will help create greater social awareness by offering a set curriculum that progressively explores the non-verbal world of social interaction in a fun and supportive environment. Students will learn to accurately interpret non-verbal cues through personal movement explorations and socio-dramatic role-plays. This group will help to channel the "Tween's" creative, curious nature toward positive interactions, emotional maturity, self-esteem and purposeful social encounters. This class is sure to help children to learn strategies to identify, express and manage emotions such as anger, fear and frustration all while building social skills, self esteem and positive behavior.  Our fun approach to teaching movement observation techniques through and movement and dramatic arts teaches your child the skills of positive expression and emotional maturity in a structured curriculum based safe and supportive class environment.

---


Gifted and Talented Social Explorers: 2nd – 5th Grade
This dynamic group will tap into the unique perspective of children identified as gifted and talented, and help to channel their creative, curious nature toward positive interactions, emotional maturity, self-esteem and purposeful social encounters.
Fee for 10 week Fall / Spring session - $225
Fee for 6 week Winter session - $140

---

Sibling-Ade: Brothers and Sisters Ages 4 - 10
Built on a foundation of fun and teamwork, this group provides the tools that challenge siblings to manage competition, solve problems and cooperate toward a more positive and rewarding sibling relationship.
Fee for 6 week class: Summer - $250 first two siblings, $100 each additional child

Tuesdays 1:15 – 2:15 PM

---

Kinex Academy prides itself on quality instruction and personal attention to every child and their unique learning profile. We are always seeking to acquire the best resources for movement skills development training. Whenever possible, the on-site training equipment configuration includes a Sony video camera connected through IEEE-1394 (Firewire) to a HP Pavilion zv5000 laptop computer (with 200 GigaByte external drive) running Dartfish TeamPro video training software and feeding a large-screen projection system. This allows the opportunity for the athlete or performer to watch herselve executing various skilled movements or non-verbal and expressive gestures and to discuss the finer details of those executions with the Kinex Trainer or Mentor. These video clips can be stored and reviewed at a later time if desired.

More time is being invested in research and development with Dartfish training software being used as a training tool in the “best practices” for teaching and instructing children with different neuro-developmental learning profiles.

Our Mission