A nonprofit is putting 3D printers, coding workstations, and a podcast recording studio in front of students at Leto High School, and it is doing so outside the traditional school budget.

The Building Excellence Foundation unveiled its second COEGI Lab at the school in Hillsborough County. The lab includes modern computers, a 3D printer, and a dedicated podcast studio, and it is built to let students collaborate, solve problems, and explore career paths. Unlike a conventional computer lab, it is organized around STEAM, which adds the arts to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Hadeel Ali, a director with the foundation, said the arts component is deliberate. Students need to learn the technical concepts, she said, but they also have to apply them in real situations, and that means working with others.

The educational nonprofit places specialized labs in schools it describes as underserved and tailors each one to the students it serves. Its first Hillsborough County lab opened at Armwood High School.

Leto Principal Babita Artabasy said the lab, working alongside the school’s science program, will show students options beyond the usual post-secondary path. She said many of the school’s students are creative.

Senior Dariel Breton, enrolled in an engineering program and hoping to become an aerospace engineer, said the lab’s larger screens and equipment allow far more coding than classroom laptops. He said the experience makes him feel prepared for college.

Ali said the foundation’s mission also focuses on access. She argued that students’ opportunities in STEM vary widely by family income and said every student deserves the same start. The foundation hopes more labs like the one at Leto will narrow that gap.

The lab’s cost and funding sources were not disclosed.

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