Our Team
Mentors, Educators, and Engineers: Guiding the Path to Excellence
Our team is the heart of the L I F E MALE SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING ARTS AND MATH ACADEMY experience, composed of dedicated professionals who are not just teachers, but true mentors committed to unlocking the potential in every student. We have carefully curated a faculty with diverse, high-level qualifications, blending advanced degrees in their respective fields with significant real-world industry experience. This ensures that the instruction our students receive is both theoretically sound and practically relevant, connecting abstract classroom lessons directly to career paths in technology and engineering. Beyond their credentials, every team member shares a profound belief in our mission and a caring approach that prioritizes the social and emotional development of young men. They understand the nuances of male learning styles, employing active, engaging, and challenging pedagogical methods that maintain high expectations while providing robust, individualized support, making them the defining difference in the LMSTEAM educational model.
Mr. Elias Vance
Head of Engineering and Design Technology
Mr. Vance holds a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and brings over twelve years of professional experience as a senior design consultant in the robotics and aerospace sectors before dedicating his career to education. His bio is distinguished by his deep commitment to hands-on, iterative design processes, which he integrates seamlessly into the LMSTEAM curriculum, guiding students through complex projects from initial sketch to functional prototype in our state-of-the-art workshops. He views the workshop as a practical extension of the math classroom, challenging students to apply calculus and physics principles to build solutions that actually work. Mr. Vance’s mentorship style is rooted in the belief that true learning comes from constructive failure and disciplined iteration. He fosters a high-trust environment where students are encouraged to dismantle and re-engineer their mistakes, thereby cultivating the vital resilience and problem-solving grit essential for future engineers and innovators. His passion is seeing a student’s abstract idea manifest into a tangible, working invention.
Dr. Helena Kincaid
Lead Science and Research Educator
Dr. Kincaid, possessing a Ph.D. in Biophysics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is the architect of our advanced science curriculum, focusing on interdisciplinary fields like computational biology and sustainable energy systems. Her extensive background includes published research and several years of post-doctoral work, bringing an unparalleled level of scientific rigor and current industry perspective to the Academy. Dr. Kincaid excels at translating highly complex scientific theories into accessible, engaging, and ethically relevant laboratory investigations, often structuring her lessons as authentic research inquiries where students manage their own data collection and analysis. She is particularly adept at mentoring young men through the scientific method, emphasizing the importance of meticulous observation and hypothesis testing. Dr. Kincaid’s warm but demanding approach ensures students develop the precision and analytical mindset required for successful academic research and scientific careers, always encouraging them to consider the broader ethical and environmental implications of their scientific discoveries.
Ms. Sarah Chen
Arts Integration and Creative Technologies Specialist
Ms. Chen is a celebrated digital artist and credentialed educator with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Industrial Design and a Master’s in Educational Technology. She is instrumental in ensuring the “A” in LMSTEAM is fully integrated, moving beyond traditional art classes to teach students how artistic principles—such as aesthetics, composition, and human-centered design—are critical tools for engineering, coding, and architectural design. Her studio time focuses on skills like 3D modeling, graphic communication, and multimedia storytelling, all used to enhance the presentation and conceptualization of technical projects. Ms. Chen’s teaching methodology is deeply supportive and centered on fostering emotional intelligence through creative expression, recognizing that artistic outlets are vital for holistic development in young men. She encourages students to use visual communication to explain complex concepts, thereby strengthening both their creative and technical communication skills, and helps them build beautiful, functional, and user-friendly designs for all their technological projects.
Mr. David “Mac” Maclean
Mathematics and Academic Mentorship Coordinator
Mr. Maclean holds a Master’s degree in Applied Mathematics and Secondary Education and has a twenty-year career marked by exceptional success in preparing students for advanced placement tests and university-level mathematics. His primary focus at LMSTEAM Academy is to transition students from viewing math as abstract arithmetic to recognizing it as the universal language of science and engineering. He achieves this through practical application, immediately incorporating every mathematical concept into a physical or technological problem that the students must solve, such as calculating trajectories for robotics or optimizing structural loads. As the Academic Mentorship Coordinator, he also oversees the personalized student support system, working one-on-one with students to build individualized academic plans, ensuring they develop robust study habits, organizational skills, and a strong sense of academic accountability. Mr. Maclean is known for his patient yet rigorous coaching, ensuring every student masters the foundational knowledge necessary to succeed in all other STEAM disciplines.
Community & Engagement
Collaborative Home-School Support for Student Success
At L I F E MALE SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING ARTS AND MATH ACADEMY, we fundamentally believe that a student’s success is a direct result of a strong, collaborative partnership between the Academy and the family. We actively encourage and rely on parental involvement, viewing parents not merely as observers but as essential contributors to the educational process. Our engagement strategies include mandatory quarterly parent-mentor conferences, which go beyond traditional report cards to provide holistic feedback on academic progress, character development, and future planning. We host regular family workshops focused on topics like supporting mathematical reasoning at home, navigating college financial aid, and understanding the career pathways in STEAM fields. We utilize a dedicated online portal for real-time project updates and communication, ensuring that families are always fully informed and equipped to support their student’s demanding curriculum. This deeply collaborative model ensures a consistent, supportive environment that maximizes the young man’s potential for both academic mastery and personal growth.
Join Us/Work With Us
Invest Your Career in the Future of Education
L I F E MALE SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING ARTS AND MATH ACADEMY is continuously seeking passionate, highly qualified educators, engineers, and specialists who are committed to our mission of fostering excellence in young men through integrated STEAM education. Joining our team means becoming part of an innovative and collaborative community where professional growth and pedagogical creativity are highly valued and actively supported. We offer a unique and stimulating work environment that encourages teachers to design and lead interdisciplinary projects, providing the autonomy and resources to teach their subjects in a deep, meaningful, and practical way. If you possess advanced degrees, professional industry experience, or a verifiable track record of success in specialized education and are seeking a career where your expertise directly translates into profound student impact, we encourage you to explore the rewarding opportunities available to shape the future of learning at LMSTEAM Academy.
