Tuesday, December 09, 2014YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Ron Faniro and other proponents of Students Motivated by the Arts -- or Smarts -- this morning followed up on the pledge they made in May that the arts program, formerly operated by Youngstown State University, would be back.
During a news conference at Potential Development, Smarts officials and supporters announced that programming has resumed -- less than a year after YSU discontinued the initiative because of budget cuts -- with Smarts Beats.
“We promised the community that Smarts would be back, that something smart was about to happen,” Faniro, a Smarts Circle member, remarked. “Today, something smart is happening.”
During a media event that featured a Smarts Beats demonstration by instructor Ed Davis and a group of Potential Development students, Chrissi Jenkins, program coordinator for the Hine Memorial Fund of the Youngstown Foundation, presented Smarts with an oversize check for $54,054. The money will be used to fund Smarts Beats, which targets youths with more than one disability.
The beginning of Smarts programming is part of its transition to the community, said Becky Keck, its executive director. “It’s really a great moment to celebrate,” she remarked.
Smarts Beats, which began last month, works within a schools' curriculum on behavior skills such as taking turns and following directions in other areas as well, including math, Davis said.
“We also work on a lot of basic music skills like playing a steady beat together, which involves teamwork,” he continued. “We’re really trying to give a full body of musical experience with these kids in these programs that they’re doing in classrooms as well.”
The program operates at seven schools in Mahoning County, 15 hours each week for a total of 11 classrooms and 120 students. Other partner schools include Easter Seals, Robinwood Lane Elementary, YSU’s Rich Center for Autism and the Leonard Kirtz School.
The Hine Memorial Fund’s mission is to provide services to residents of Mahoning County ages 21 and younger with diagnosed disabilities and their families, Jenkins said. “The Smarts program offers many unique opportunities for children with disabilities from an educational standpoint, a recreational standpoint and bringing arts to children. So it really fit the mission and was something that we wanted to be a part of,” she continued.
“We couldn’t do this without the support of the community,” Faniro said. “A lot of people have stepped up to the plate with in-kind and pro bono services
Smarts continues because “a whole bunch of people got together and decided this was too important to let go,” Keck remarked. Including the Hine grant, the program has raised about $130,000 and is “exactly where we need to be” in the transition, she said. The program, which has created a board of directors and is forming its own 501(c)3, has a transitional headquarters and website, and today unveiled a new Smarts Beats logo.
Smarts is also searching for a future home for the program.
“You’ll have to wait for the next press conference, but it’ll be really exciting,” Keck teased. “We know that the places that we’ve looked at are really promising for Smarts’ future.”
Pictured: Smarts' staff and proponents celebrate the presentation of a grant from the Hine Memorial Fund to pay for the Smarts Beats program.
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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