Directory

Lou Ellen Kay

Lou Ellen is our founder and a life-long teacher.  Beginning in January, 2007, she organized the Board and worked on the incorporation, certification as a non-profit, siting, recruiting, engaging volunteers, getting an architect and contractor, and many other tasks.  With the help of her family and friends, the school opened to classes in August, 2009.  She is the Head of School, running all school operations with oversight of the Board of Trustees as their sole employee (this is the optimal structure of governance, accepted by the accrediting agencies). The mission to which she dedicates our school is on our website.

Lou Ellen teaches approximately half-time, the rest of her time given to administering the school.  She has taught classes in science, biogeography, Chinese history, cursive writing, reading, archery, art, and making.

As Head of School she recruits students and teachers, maintains student records, creates the extensive weekly newsletter, works with teachers and the Board to plan operations, reviews teachers, provides students with both discipline and loving support, and develops and leads field trips.

Biographical Information

Education

• Ph. D., Biology, City University of New York, 1984.
• B.S., Botany, Colorado State University, 1969.

Relevant Experience:

Science:

She is an internationally published scientist with appointments at Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Plant Genetic Engineering Laboratory at New Meixco State University and Dona Ana Community College, as well as at CSIRO, Canberra, the Australian federal research laboratory, as a Herbarium Fellow at the New York Botanical Garden, and as a Consultant at the Smithsonian Institution.

Teaching:

She has taught as a teaching assistant during her Ph. D. studies, as a student group advisor (see below), as an instructor in biology and in anatomy and physiology at the university level, for 19 years.  She was awarded a Letter of Recognition for Teaching Excellence from President of NMSU, 1990. She has five years experience teaching as a parent/assistant in elementary school classrooms: two Las Cruces schools as well as schools in Canbera, ACT, Australia, Palo Alto, CA, and Arlington, VA.

Additional details are in her letter of nomination for the Purpose Prize, for people over 60 who are combining their passion and experience for social good.  While she didn’t get the award among 800 nominees, we’d like to share her story in a post that is viewable here.

Yulin Zhang

Yulin joined our faculty in August, 2017, to teach Mandarin Chinese.  She teaches our students from kindergarten on, as they learn to read, write, and speak Chinese in five weekly classes each (three longer classes during the pandemic 2020-21).  She is a native speaker, born in China, while also masterful in English, having lived in the US for fourteen years.  She had not taught Chinese as a course previously but her teaching trial went very well and her technique quickly developed to a very high standard. Her students learn not only reading and writing but also conversation, which is rare in classes for non-native speakers.

Biographical Information

Education

• B.A. US equivalent: Chinese Literature, Xi’An University, Shaanxi province, China

Relevant Experience:

Todd Sibley

Todd joined our faculty in August, 2024, to teach upper-level Spanish as a part-time teacher. This builds on his successful teaching English to international Spanish speakers, engaging them in both Spanish and English. His method of teaching Spanish is focused on getting students fluid in conversation with discussion, questions, skits, words of the day… building up and building on their confidence.

Teaching

• Lado International Institute, Washington, DC, 2013-16
• ESL via Web for international Spanish speakers, Mohsensibley.com, 2016-present
• Licensed substitute teacher, Las Cruces Public Schools, 2023-present

Education

• B.A. in Third World Studies, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 2005
• Graduate work, Howard University, 2005-10

Other Professional Experience

• Managed his Web-based ESL teaching site – business operations, website, marketing
• Guest Lecturer in Political Science, Catholic University, 2008-09
• Research Assistant, African Studies, Howard University, 2009-11

Shanta Padhi

Shanta joined our faculty in August, 2024 to teach full time, for grades 1&2 and mathematics to grades 1-8. She is a biologist with research and college teaching experience; she volunteered in 2023-24 in the early grades and in math; she is also the mother of an LCA student. She knows math to very advance levels while finding reward in teaching at all the levels in the LCA.

Teaching

• Volunteer teacher, Las Cruces Academy, 2023-24
• Teaching Assistant, Mathematical Sciences, New Mexico State University, 2019

Education

• Master’s in Plant and Environmental Science, New Mexico State University, 2020
• Master’s Degree in Applied Statistics, New Mexico State University, 2020
• With a Minor in Computer Science, New Mexico State University,. 2020

Other Professional Experience

• Research assistant, Biology Department, New Mexico State University, 2024

Vince Gutschick

Vince joined his wife as she founded the school in 2007, as business manager, bookkeeper, IT person, publicity manager, handyman… He became Chair of the Board of Trustees in 2009. Using his PhD degree in chemistry/chemical physics and the experience of his long career in scientific research, teaching, and management, he has taken to teaching science and technology. In 2019 Stanford University rated all scientists in the world to identify the top 2%; Vince was there.

Keeping up with science, for teaching our students and for the fun of it: Vince has a science segment on KRWG-FM, 90.7, Science Digest, each Tuesday, 8:50 AM.  He did hour-long programs on KTAL-LPFM, 101.5. He is the principal maintainer of the LCA’s core website, lascrucesacademy.org.  He has also developed two more websites, lcaoutreach.org (landing pages for a full-length analysis of the habitability of planets and for international travel), science-technology-society.com (popular to research science).  He’s working with his final NMSU graduate student, Shigang Liu, modeling rainwater infiltration across a landscape on the Jornada Range.  He occasionally reviews manuscripts submitted to international journals.

Biographical Information

Education

• B.S., Chemistry, University of Notre Dame, 1966, summa cum laude
• Ph. D., Chemistry, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), 1971, formally awarded 1972

Relevant Experience:

Science:

Vince teaches science to the older students at the LCA.  He draws on his scientific career that began when he decided to become a scientist at age 8.  His first independent research was as an NSF Undergraduate Research Fellow at Notre Dame.  Over the years his career led to Berkeley, Yale, Los Alamos, and New Mexico State University.  He has 70 peer-reviewed publications in chemistry, physics, biology, agronomy, remote sensing, and other fields, and a patent.

Teaching:

At the Academy Vince has taught middle-school science and technology courses, computer programming (Python, Scratch), tennis, and now a series of elective courses on world music, world culture, animals, etc.

Vince taught as a teaching assistant at Caltech, otherwise on fellowship.  He taught general chemistry and quantum mechanics at Yale on a 2-year term appointment as J. W. Gibbs Fellow.  At NMSU he taught 13 different courses in biology and allied fields.  He now teaches the older students, grades 4-8, at the Academy, drawing on this career experiences and the equipment and supplies accumulated over the years.  Also of value in his teaching  and that of his wife and Head of School, Lou Ellen Kay, are their experiences in travel and living in 40 countries, mostly with their son and now also their daughter-in-law; they share the knowledge of different cultures with students in class and in special sessions.

Business management:

Vince has over 30 years’ experience in managing funds, first in federal grants awarded to him and his colleagues, then as volunteer treasurer for several organizations, and now as financial manager for the Academy, concurrently with running a (quite) small scientific consulting business.  He learned QuickBooks for double-entry accounting, applying it from the start of the school.  He applies his lifelong expertise in computers for Academy functions that include website development and management, shared with son David Gutschick.  Vince is committed to the mission and vision of the school developed with Lou Ellen and the Board of Trustees.

David Gutschick

David is an integral part of the Academy and has been from its start.  He was critical to recruitment of students, physical preparation of the school at its starting location on the Downtown Mall, business and financial planning, and computer operations, especially in website development and management.  He joined the Board of Trustees in 2009.  After completing his undergraduate engineering degree at Caltech he took a year off to dedicate to founding the school.  David is our go-to person for intricacies of Web and computer functions.  He is integral to our operations planning, organizational planning, and our effort to obtain accreditation from the top accrediting organization, the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest.

Keeping up with science and technology: David finished his Ph. D. in material science and engineering at the Ohio State University in August, 2018, based on research with laser tweezers, high-resolution video, and computer models of mechanical responses to characterize gels such as those usable for artificial skin for burn victims.  He moved to Sunnyvale, CA, in March 2020 with his wife, Yi Li, an Apple engineer.  He founded a small enginering company and then became a machine learning engineer for Fitbit in December, 2020. He is now with fi.com in similar work.

Biographical Information

Education

• B.S., Mechanical Engineering, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), 2008
• Ph. D., Materials Science and Engineering, the Ohio State University, 2018.

Relevant Experience:

Technical Expertise:

David has wide range of skills, from carpentry to mechanics to computer programming and website operations to resource management.  He helped set up the premises at our first rented facility.  He now is critical to maintaining and improving t he school website, including adding financial and reporting functions through the website.  His Ph. D. studies involved high-tech methods that he mastered and greatly improved, such as for laser tweezers to manipulate tiny spheres and optical imaging pushed to the limit to infer mechanical properties of gels for application in such fields as engineered skin replacement using reconstituted collagen.  He now lives in Cupertino, CA, with his wife, Yi, who is employed as an award-winning engineer at Google. 

Business Management:

David has been a continuous presence in all the business planning for the school.  He took the lead in finding our first site (a task of surprising complexity, on both physical and regulatory levels).  He designed our initial student recruitment method and continues to perfect it, particularly via our website presence.  His skill in website development and security is essential to our operations.  As a Board member, David excels at finding resources, intellectual and financial, to advance the school mission and vision.  He and his father, Vince Gutschick, designed the ultimate facility for the school, should we attain our goal of growth to 350 students in grades early K through 12.

Paul Deason

Paul is the owner and operator of a private business, STAT, for statistical consulting, as well as a consultant to state and federal agencies.  He also holds a Ph. D. in educational administration. He is one of the first members of the Board of Trustees.  Paul is a resolute supporter of the LCA with his advice, on and off Board meetings, his support offered as funds and as materials, and his links to state and federal agencies.

Biographical Information

Education

• B. S., Physics, University of California
• M.S., Physics, University of California; Physical Education, Experimental Statistics, and Anthropology, University of New Mexico

Relevant Experience:

A former US Marine, he is President of Science Technology Analysis Team LLC based in Las Cruces, New Mexico, a private company engaged in plans and policy analyses for areas as diverse as emergency preparedness and mitigation, and sustainable, culturally-sensitive economic development in Southern New Mexico.  Dr. Deason served in the US Department of Defense for over 30 years, retiring as an Army Analysis Fellow.  In 1987, at Trinity College, Cambridge (UK) he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society (England).  From 2012-2015 he served NM Governor Martinez as a Director of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority.

Paul is on the boards of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority and the High Tech Consortium of Southern New Mexico.  He is a longtime leader in the Boy Scouts of America.

Jessica Houston

Jessica Perea Houston

Dr. Jessica P. Houston is the Luke Barry Shires Endowed Professor of Chemical & Materials Engineering at New Mexico State University (NMSU) in Las Cruces, NM. Her connection to Las Cruces Academy runs deep — two of her children attended LCA during the school’s early years, from 2011 to 2018, and she has co-organized the Engineering and Lego Club, a beloved weekly afterschool activity, for over a decade. She joined the LCA board in 2025, bringing with her a longstanding enthusiasm for the school’s mission and a genuine investment in its continued growth.

Biographical Information

Education

• D., Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, 2005
• S., Chemical Engineering, New Mexico State University, 2000

Relevant Experience

Research:

At NMSU, Jessica directs the Laboratory for Flow Cytometry and Related Biophotonics, where she leads an active research program in biomedical engineering. Her scholarly output spans over 60 peer-reviewed papers, proceedings, and book chapters, complemented by more than 400 abstracts and upwards of 40 invited presentations at international and national symposia, keynotes, and colloquia. She also holds a patent for an innovative cytometry technology. A globally recognized scientist, Jessica has been awarded the Fulbright Scholar designation twice — in Japan (2017) and Brazil (2023). Her achievements have been further recognized through the Robert L. Westhafer Award for Excellence in Research (2025) and election to the College of Fellows within the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (2024).

Teaching:

Jessica is engaged in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL). She teaches following “Active Learning” pedagogies. She has been able to cultivate a mastery of active learning through training by experts, and attendance at numerous forums and workshops in active learning and entrepreneurial-minded learning. She enjoys teaching in the TEAL classroom (NMSU’s technology-enhanced active learning). Her regular courses include fluid mechanics, biomedical engineering, process control, and dynamics. Overall, Jessica has mentored 4 postdoctoral fellows and 14 graduate students (4 Ph.D., 1 Ed.S., and 9 M.S) and advised a total of 40 undergraduates in her research laboratory.

Service:

Jessica is deeply engaged in scientific leadership across a broad range of societies, boards, and advisory bodies. She currently serves as President of the International Society for the Advancement of Cytometry (ISAC, 2023–2026) and Chair of its Executive Committee, with ex-officio membership across all 12 ISAC committees as well as numerous task forces and working groups. She also chairs the Conference on Imaging, Manipulation, and Analysis of Cells and Tissues within the SPIE Photonics West Congress, and serves as co-Principal Investigator on a university-wide training grant supporting graduate students in the biomedical sciences at NMSU. Beyond her scientific roles, Jessica contributes to the broader community through board membership with the Las Cruces Academy and SOULCAP, a scientific nonprofit initiative. Together with her husband, Dr. Kevin D. Houston, she co-leads Houston Biosciences and Engineering, LLC, a consulting firm specializing in expert witness services for patent litigation.

Katie Kuechmann

Katie joined us in late January, 2021, as our early kindergarten / kindergarten teacher, when Arielle Lane accepted a job directing a preschool.  Katie hit the ground running.  She also splits her time doing some classes for grades 1 & 2. Katie has our young students learning reading, writing, phonics, social studies, and science, even writing poetry.

Katie holds a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education from New Mexico State University, with a minor in psychology, a perfect combination.  She did her student teaching in several different preschools, summer camps, and day-care centers, and did substitute teaching in the Las Cruces Public Schools.  She has a history of volunteering in the community. She has a command of phonics, which is crucial for teaching our youngest students.  She also has CPR certification and, like all our other teachers, has an FBI background check.

Maida Realivazquez

I joined Las Cruces Academy as a Spanish teacher in Fall 2025. I have experience
teaching Spanish at the university level, working with both second language
learners and heritage speakers. I am passionate about helping students build
confidence in their language skills through communication, cultural exploration,
and engaging classroom activities.

Teaching
• Spanish Instructor, New Mexico State University, 2024–present
• Adult Basic Education Instructor, Doña Ana Branch Community College, 2004–
2014
• Tutor Facilitator, Quintana Learning Center, 2004-2005

Education
• M.A. in Spanish (Emphasis in Literature),2005
• B.A. in Foreign Languages (Spanish and French), 2003
• Exchange Student, University Jean Monnet, Saint-Étienne, France

Additional Experience
• Experience working with ESL students and GED preparation
• Strong background in multicultural education and student-centered instruction