Remember dodging tarps in the hallways? Or do you recall the mysterious banging on walls that had to be ignored while you were trying to concentrate in class? Before our school had access to the new learning spaces, students and staff faced construction hurdles during the 2014-2015 school year. Finally, students and staff have been rewarded with new innovative learning spaces placed around the school this year.

   The preparation for the learning centers dates back to Dr. April Adams’ first year of being a principal seven years ago.

   “I was reading some books on how to change schools for tomorrow,” she said. “I was doing research on how colleges are shifting and how their spaces look for their learners based upon the learners’ needs.”

   Adams started researching what some schools around ours are doing to be more innovative with their use of space. She started asking a team of teachers how they could use the space they have at the school more creatively and efficiently. Overall, the learning space construction was about a three-and-a-half year project.

   There are twelve learning spaces placed around the school now. The spaces are said to give students space to do homework, class work and visit with friends. Teachers use the spaces for activities and to have students present and work on group projects.

   The development of the spaces was a challenging task. Teachers’ offices were located where the student centers are located today. Those offices had to be completely gutted for an entire school year in order for the learning spaces to be built.

   “It was like putting the chocolate bar in front of you and telling you that you can look at it while it grows every day but you can never eat it,” Adams said. “It was a space that was not functional and I felt horrible.”

   Some of the learning spaces, like the 400’s learning space, provide high-tech supplies, like an interactive whiteboard.

   “There are these fancy pens that come with it,” department chair for international languages Charity Stephens said. “Kids come out and do grammar lessons with it or do things like pictionary to get to know the foreign language vocabulary.”

   There has been debate on whether or not students are using the spaces appropriately. Some students admit that it is easy to be distracted and talk to friends in the spaces during work. Other students also claim that they use the spaces solely to get their work done.

   “I would say I use them for class purposes, so I use them appropriately,” junior Peyton Trester said. “I don’t really see anyone else use them inappropriately either.”

   Math teacher Candace Cole agrees.

   “With our space, it is going pretty well,” she said. “It is open, so we don’t have a lot of misbehavior in there because you can see from the front to the back.”

   Students praise the laid back atmosphere and claim that the spaces benefit their learning experience.

   “I don’t feel as pressured in the spaces as I would in a classroom,” sophomore Kiarah Mosely said. “I feel at the learning spaces I can get stuff done at my own pace.”

    Students report to have never used the learning spaces while others claim to use it every single day.

   “I use it every seventh hour,” senior Jay Gordon said. “We go out there and usually read, unless my teacher has an assignment in class.”

   The learning spaces have been surprising students and staff with how useful they can be. Whiteboards and conference tables have allowed students and staff to work together on projects.