About
Lucas means bringer of light
A nonprofit educational project in Orange County, grown from questions and experiments around our family table.
Our vision
Our goal has always been to bring affordable, high-quality, educational, and joyful experiences to children and families. We pursue this goal through guided discovery: thinking led by curiosity, creating through discovery, searching for significance, and contributing to real-world problems that matter.
Why We Do This
Life is a journey, and so is learning. Kids are on the road, and adults are too. Some are fortunate enough to meet wonderful teachers along the way; others have fewer opportunities and must find more of the way on their own. We are grateful for the people who have walked part of the journey with us.
When we travel, we want to have fun and take photos to remember the experience. Learning is similar: enjoy the process and take something with you. Learn to paint and solve problems, and also to express yourself, work with others, and take responsibility for your ideas.
When we were young, having fun was enough. As we grow older, kids need our company, parents need our care, and when friends face difficulties, we want to help a little too.
Some of these things are tiring. We still choose to do them because that person matters to us.
But even when we love our kids, we often do not know how to love them well. The more anxious we get, the harder it is to find the right words. We mean to help, but everyone ends up unhappy.
We are still learning too.
Jesus washed his students’ feet, teaching them through his actions to love and serve one another. In him, we see how perfect education and love come together. We hope to learn from his example and live out that love.
This is also where our guided discovery begins. Kids bring ideas. Teachers provide knowledge, tools, and hints, set safe boundaries, and accompany them as they try things and make discoveries of their own.
In small groups, kids and adults teach and learn from one another, with AI taking part too. We explain our ideas, turn them into games, images, or stories, then evaluate and revise them together. People from different backgrounds often help one another discover: there is another way to think about this.
Lucas Academy has grown as people who want to explore together have gradually come together.
We made it a nonprofit project so that the good things we prepare for our own kids can be shared with more people. More and more people are now joining with love in their hearts. That willingness to care for kids is what we value most.
Kids gain knowledge, and they also see a group of people who care about them choosing to spend time doing something together. We hope they will pass that love on to others too.
There are times when we cannot see the road clearly. Love is like a lamp at our feet, helping us see the next step and giving us the strength to keep going. Even after someone is gone, the love they leave behind can accompany others for a long way.
Love never ends. Love never fails.
If you are curious too, come take a look, have a conversation, volunteer, and join us in playing, teaching, and learning with kids.
With this love, we would like to keep walking alongside you.
Who we are
The people who build, teach, and mentor at Lucas Academy.
Yancy Qin
Content Creator · Coding Instructor & Mentor
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I'm a software engineering manager and a PSIA-certified ski instructor. My best memory from years of childhood coding competitions wasn't the coding or the competition — it was inventing games with friends during study breaks in DOS and trading them on floppy disks. That curiosity-led discovery is still how I think kids learn best; I'm grateful for the people who guided me, but I always wished that guidance had come with more fun and more depth — so I built the place I'd have loved as a kid, and I want to share it with everyone.
Eunice Yue
Art Teacher & Mentor · Studio Artist
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Eunice is an art teacher and a wonderful wife and mother of three. She graduated summa cum laude from Biola University with a major in Studio Art. While earning her California art-teaching certification, she has created and taught many art classes for kids — with love and real specialty. But most importantly, she loves teaching, and her students love and respect her deeply.
Louise Yang
Content Creator · Coding Mentor
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Louise is an EECS master’s graduate from UC Irvine with a background in computer vision, robotics, and AI systems. Her work in computer vision and computational optimization grew into a broader interest in helping people think more clearly with technology. At Lucas Academy, she helps students use AI and coding as materials for curiosity, creativity, and building ideas of their own.
Haoxuan Li
Coding Instructor
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Haoxuan Li is a software engineering undergraduate student at UCI with a deep interest in software development and simulation. He is currently planning various passion projects with his peers while continuing his studies. He enjoys exploring how complex systems work through examining practical examples and careful attention to detail. Beyond technology, he has a hobby in classical music and often combines creativity with technical thinking in his design concept. Most importantly, Haoxuan Li believes teaching is a two-way interaction, and he looks forward to learning from the curiosity, ideas, and perspectives of younger students just as much as he hopes to help them grow as a student himself.