At the Oct. 25, 2016 meeting of the Boardman Rotary, Rebecca L. Keck gave an overview of SMARTS, Youngstown's community arts school. 
 
The organization, at which Keck sits at the helm, originally started at Youngstown State University. After nearly 20 years of operation, the program was cut due to budget cuts. Keck, along with a group of community members, concerned parents and friends, began working to bring the school to life as a standalone operation. The organization leads the region in quality arts education by providing classes to K-12 students in visual arts, music, dance, theater and creating writing. The classes take place in schools, out of schools, on weekdays and Saturdays.
 
SMARTS is currently conducting a capital campaign to secure and renovate a permanent home for the arts school as well as endow programming and keep it sustainable into the future. 
 
For more information, please visit http://smartsartschool.org/