What was your favorite moment at SMARTS?

Our Performance...because it was fun and I got to learn how to dance.
-Malani R., SMARTS Student

Poetry class...we were just the randomest people...we were all like ‘normal-boring, crazy-yes.’
-Makaila R., SMARTS Student

What’s your favorite art form?

It’d probably be poetry honestly. Because you can do things that rhyme, don’t rhyme. Literally you can write a book...and it’s still poetry.
-Makaila R., SMARTS Student

Piano...because I get to learn how to use a piano, and it’s fun, and also you get to hear the sounds that you make
-Malani R., SMARTS Student

How do you feel when you get to hear your songs?

I feel happy..because I’m proud of myself for making music.
-Malani R., SMARTS Student

What did you think of your SMARTS teacher?

Fun, random, like us...and really good at poetry.
-Makaila R., SMARTS Student

Do you miss coming to SMARTS?

Of course I miss coming to SMARTS! Literally, every time I’m doing nothing. I think I could be doing something with my life...because, honestly, I can feel, nobody understands me anymore. Other than this little one over here.
-Makaila R., SMARTS Student

I had a lot of friends at SMARTS..at school you only have one time to interact with people, the whole entire time at SMARTS you can interact with SMARTS.
-Makaila R., SMARTS Student

I miss SMARTS because it was really fun.
-Malani R., SMARTS Student

I feel like I’m becoming an artist. I’m not there yet, but I’m getting closer...when I’m able to draw something and make it proportionally correct..maybe it’s the fact that I can’t draw fingers...I feel like, once I feel comfortable with drawing it and I draw it correctly, then I’ll be there.
With poetry, there’s not much that can go wrong. It’s just, when you have writer’s block, you just have to look at other poems…
-Makaila R., SMARTS Student

What would you say to someone who is thinking about taking classes at SMARTS?

I would tell them that it would be fun and you also learn a lot about yourself...and I love it and it’s really fun to do and you can learn and you can get friends there too. At school I had no friends, but when I went to SMARTS I had a bunches of friends...there’s troublemakers at school and the other people are convincing people to do trouble with them too... SMARTS you can be learning and also it's really fun and you have breaks. They can give you breaks. And the teachers at SMARTS are really nice. I learned about myself, that I’m really good at a bunch of things.
-Malani R., SMARTS Student


If you don’t pick the right class, you can have different experiences...you can look for another class so you can find the class that’s right for you.
-Makaila R., SMARTS Student

If people are mean to you, then you should go to SMARTS, because I met a lot of nice people that I didn’t meet in school. If you go to SMARTS and you get bullied, the teacher will see it and tell them 'Stop it, you’re being rude.' If they keep doing it, they’ll get kicked out of the SMARTS program anyway...I used to be bullied by this one kid. Never ever was bullied by anyone at SMARTS.
-Makaila R., SMARTS Student

SMARTS is amazing.
-Makaila R., SMARTS Student

SMARTS is the best program!
-Malana R., SMARTS Student

I feel like I finally know what I might be when I get older…
-Makaila R., SMARTS Student

On the first day she [the teacher] gave me kindness...through her words.
-Malani R., SMARTS Student

I think it’s important because they’re learning skills they don’t learn in school. They’re learning new things..they’re nice kids, they’re very sensitive. I like them to be in extra curricular things that can help build them as they come into adulthood...It’s definitely something for them to look forward to, to let off a little steam, to do different things. They want to do it.
-Bernard R., SMARTS Parent