Engaging directly with learners is one of the most rewarding parts of working in education, so when Professor Jonathon Jansen, one of South Africa’s preeminent education leaders, invited us to run an in-person, hands-on demonstration of LabXchange at Crestway High School in Cape Town, South Africa, earlier this year, we were thrilled to take part.
Crestway is nestled in the suburb of Retreat, on the southern edge of Cape Town. With the generous assistance of Professor Jansen, distinguished professor and one of South Africa’s leading minds in higher education, the school has been on a journey to improve its performance and build a reputation as a leading school for mathematics and science. Having grown up in the area himself, Professor Jansen saw great potential in the school and felt compelled to lend his guidance to Crestway principal Cheryl Jacobs and her team, yielding incredible results in just a few years. In 2023, Crestway had a matric pass rate of 35.9%—one of the lowest in the province. Last year, the school achieved a rate of 84.5%.
Keeping in mind all of the hard work that Crestway’s educators and learners had already done to get to this point, we set out to demonstrate how LabXchange could help support the school maintain its upward trajectory by providing free, high-quality resources for teaching and learning science.
The LabXchange team worked with local life sciences educator Nicole Masureik to design a customized learning session that would give Crestway’s educators the confidence to adopt LabXchange and inspire the school’s students to start exploring learning resources on their own. Masureik teaches life sciences at Pinelands High School—also in Cape Town—and has been interested in the subject from early on in life. "As a young child," she shared, "I was utterly fascinated by biology. When it came time to choose what I wanted to study, there was no doubt in my mind."
Over 100 learners from Grades 10 through 12 took part, alongside three of Crestway’s science educators and Principal Jacobs. While LabXchange team members Andrew Minor, Temba Mettler, and Nadia du Plessis assisted students with exploring the platform, Masureik led the session, showing off resources such as The Mystery of the Broken Flashlight, which introduces learners to the scientific method, and Electric Circuits, a pathway that explores foundational concepts like voltage and current.
When we asked a few Grade 10 learners how they felt about life sciences as a subject, they echoed a common sentiment: before that morning, they had been nervous about it and had not known what to expect. But, after exploring LabXchange, they felt more prepared and more capable of exploring science for themselves. Clusters and pathways proved especially popular, as they allow learners to dive deeper into specific topics that a learner is interested in, like genetics or evolution.
Additionally, learners found LabXchange’s narratives—profiles that share the stories of real science professionals—particularly motivating. “This narrative inspired me because she was a first-generation college student,” noted one learner, “and I would like to be the first to finish high school in my family.”
Crestway's educators had their own reactions to the day. Tasslin Coenraad, who teaches life sciences across Grades 10 to 12, described the value that she saw in LabXchange: "LabXchange provides additional resources that support and reinforce classroom teaching. It helps learners revisit concepts at their own pace and caters to different learning styles."
For Coenraad, it was LabXchange’s simulations that had the biggest impact. "I particularly value the interactive simulations and visual resources, as they help simplify complex biological processes and make learning more engaging."
Her colleague Lola Afolayan, who holds a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences and teaches natural and life sciences, agreed. "Its accessibility and high-quality resources, for example the 3D simulations, set it apart," she said. As an educator dedicated to making science meaningful for all learners, Lola saw immediate potential in what LabXchange could offer her classroom.
Both teachers identified the principle at the heart of LabXchange: that science should be accessible, relevant, and something that every learner can find their place in.
With 11 official languages and a school system shaped by decades of unequal resource distribution, South Africa is working to expand equitable access to education. Free, high-quality science resources that can be customized for local contexts can make a real difference, and that’s why LabXchange exists.
We are always thankful to meet educators and learners in their own classrooms, and visiting Crestway High School was no different. The learners were enthusiastic, engaged, and eager to explore science—it’s easy to see why the school’s performance has rocketed upward! This experience left us more energized in our work and with a plethora of new ideas to explore.
If you are an educator, principal, educational professional, or collaborator who wants to see what LabXchange can do in more schools like Crestway, we would love to talk. Contact us here.
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