Staff Biographies

KORI MCLAIN | Founder, Executive Director, and Educator

Prior to launching LTSA, Ms. McLain was in the commercial design business and excelled as an award-winning designer and project manager. In an entrepreneurial move, she and a couple of friends started a design company which still exists today.  As a project manager she was responsible for the planning, organizing, leading, and controlling the project. Because of her background and experience in commercial design, she has been able to bring a business acumen and a business sensibility to LTSA which has been her goal.

Ms. McLain was motivated to found Lake Travis STEM academy after her unsuccessful mission to find an appropriate school for her own two children. She tried private schools, public schools and finally homeschooled her children. Pulling from the best of these experiences and her family influences such as her mother who was a college educator/Learning Skills Specialist, her father who is a professional engineer, a brother who is a PhD at the U. of Colorado and Director of the Experiential Science Education Research Collaborative (with which LTSA is affiliated), and another brother who owns and is Co-President of an international company, prepared her to found Lake Travis STEM Academy. Using the best of her own experiences, and relying on the latest research on STEM-based and experiential curricula, Ms. McLain founded LTSA in 2012 with just five elementary students. Since then LTSA has grown to encompass elementary, middle school and highschool levels, and has become accredited through Cognia, the world's largest education community, serving more than 30,000 public and private schools and districts across the United States and in more than 70 countries that educate over 16 million students. “Cognia Accreditation means that the management and staff are constantly working on maintaining and improving the quality of the services they provide for your child.”

Ms. McLain holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Interior Design and Design Technology and was project manager for two nationally recognized Architectural Design firms where her designs won several national awards. Her eclectic and accomplished background provided leadership opportunities and the confidence to start a new kind of school (STEM and Experiential Learning) for her own children -- and the children of Austin. She created an LTSA Advisory Board who offer academic suggestions and assistance with educational decisions and direction. These members are Chairperson Dr. Brad McLain of U of Colorado at Boulder; Dr. Beth Moreno, formerly at UT Austin, and Dorothy Mclain also formerly of UT Austin.

“Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to regularly work from home and take an active part in my children’s education,”said Ms. McLain. “This intimacy with their school experiences – both good ones and bad ones – led me to become dissatisfied with how their education was failing to address their specific needs and potentials. Ultimately, this led to what I consider my most important achievement yet — Lake Travis STEM Academy. Together with an inspiring team of collaborating educators and parents, we constantly seek to innovate and provide the best educational experiences for our children.”

ERIC BENNETT | Math, Fine Arts, Technology and Physical Education Teacher

Eric Bennett earned his M.Ed. in Physical Education from Texas State University, where he taught courses in badminton, soccer, jogging and conditioning, and lifetime fitness and wellness.  His B.A. in Fine Arts from Linfield College included a role as Assistant to the Gallery Director and a minor in Mathematics.  Following his undergraduate degree program, Eric completed two terms of service with AmeriCorps, which included a residency as an artist and instructor at the Court Youth Center in Las Cruces, New Mexico.  At Sri Atmananda Memorial School in Malakkara, India, he studied an approach to teaching based on establishing relationships of trust. 

Eric obtained credit by examination for several upper-division math courses while at Texas State en route to a teaching certification in high school mathematics.  He has also been certified by the American College of Sports Medicine in Personal Training.  Eric has over 15 years of experience teaching at the middle and high school levels, including courses in math, physical education, fine arts and technology.  He is the founder and director of Future Set Tech Camp, a project-based summer program with a focus on computer programming and video game development.  Eric joined Lake Travis STEM Academy in 2015.

CRISTINA CARPENTER | Spanish Teacher, STEAM Elective Educator

A product of a culturally-diverse family, Cristina Carpenter is a gifted linguist who has lived and worked abroad for much of her life.  She brings her love of language and other cultures to bear in her work as a Spanish teacher for Lake Travis STEM Academy students. Her many experiences have added to her teaching knowledge base making her classes very interesting to her students.

Mrs. Carpenter was born in Austin to a French-German, American mother and a Bolivian father, and has always been proud of her diverse cultural heritage. As a child, English was the primary language used in her home, even during the 11 years that she spent living in South America. However, after they moved to La Paz, Bolivia when she was four, she also learned to speak Spanish. Her mother was always impressed by her daughter’s Spanish speaking ability after only a few short months of attending her Spanish-only preschool. She actually surpassed her mother’s college instructed Spanish speaking ability. Mrs. Carpenter’s fluency with Spanish so impressed her parents that they enrolled her in an all French school for kindergarten.

After moving back to Austin, Mrs. Carpenter finished high school in AISD and won the National Spanish Exam as a native speaker her sophomore and junior years which is an exceptional achievement. She earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from UT and began a career in the high tech industry with companies like Motorola/Freescale and Advanced Micro Devices. As a multi-lingual International Marketing Manager for Wayport, Inc., she traveled to countries like Switzerland, Spain, and Mexico affording her many different cultural experiences.

Mrs. Carpenter has excelled in learning in many different areas which gives her a wealth of information to share and inform her students’ learning in many areas. She considers her most important job as that of being Mom to her three children. She continued using her Spanish talents by doing consulting work while being a Mom. She has successfully transitioned her career from  international business to education and has taught at several different schools in the area, including Lake Travis STEM Academy.

Mrs. Carpenter says this about her students at LTSA: “ I hope the bright young students at LTSA look forward each week to our time together as we learn about the cultures and language of Hispanic people around the world.  I hope I spark their curiosity about foreign cultures in general, and to help them be more worldly citizens. Of course, I also hope to give them a working knowledge of this beautiful romance language, which will be useful as the Hispanic population in the US continues to grow, especially in Texas.”

ALLISON CHERRY | Science and Engineering Teacher

Allison Cherry is an environmental educator and naturalist with diverse experience spanning park management, science instruction, and hands-on environmental education. As a Natural Resource Educator with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, she led more than 40 outdoor activities annually for thousands of students and park visitors.

Her career has taken her across the country as a City Park Ranger in California's San Gabriel Mountains, Naturalist at Newport Beach's Environmental Nature Center, STEM Educator at iFLY Indoor Skydiving, and Science and Geography Teacher at a Texas charter school.

As an AmeriCorps member, she addressed Monarch butterfly habitat loss by providing native milkweed to school gardens and educating the public about population decline. With a Bachelor of Liberal Studies from the University of Iowa, she has developed specialized expertise in herpetology and earned certification as a kayak instructor, combining scientific knowledge with practical outdoor skills to inspire environmental stewardship.

An avid traveler who has explored six continents, Allison lives by John Muir's words: "The world is big and I want to have a good look at it before it gets dark." This global perspective enriches her environmental education work and fuels her passion for connecting others with the natural world.