Papers and open iPads lay on desks in a secluded section of the library where pairs of students sit, poring over schoolwork and discussing subject material. 

Hosted every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday before and after school in the Coppell High School Library, Learning Lab allows students to be tutored by their National Honor Society and Red Jacket peers.

Learning Lab began this year as part of a series of changes brought by CHS Principal Laura Springer.

“[Learning Lab] was definitely something [Springer] wanted to put in place,” Red Jacket sponsor Kristia Leyendecker said. “It seemed like a perfect opportunity for our NHS and Red Jackets to be the peer tutors there.”

Learning Lab is designed to benefit NHS and Red Jacket tutors as well.

“[Learning Lab] gives NHS members a chance to teach material they are learning or have already learned,” NHS sponsor Kevin Casey said. “Any time you teach something, you deepen your understanding of the material.”

Leyendecker has related Learning Lab tutoring to her own experiences as a teacher. 

“To be able to help somebody and see that light bulb go off when they finally get it is an experience you can’t replace,” Leyendecker said. “It actually provides two ends of the spectrum. It’s really important for all of us to have that ability to humble ourselves enough to recognize, ‘just because I get this doesn’t mean somebody else does, and I need to put myself in their shoes’.”

Learning Lab provides service hours to NHS members, but is a monthly requirement for Red Jackets. 

“By going to talk to other students, who have probably been in the same shoes with the same experience, you can relate to them more and better learn from them when you do have questions,” senior NHS president Cole Krautkramer said.

Learning Lab does not require any registration or previous scheduling, making it more accessible to students.

“[Learning Lab] gives students a place where they can ask their peers for assistance, which is usually a little less intimidating than asking the teachers,” Casey said.

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