Interview: Counteracting Bias in Student Selection

(Spring 2025) – We’re speaking with Mayra Nayeli Martín, SMART’s Senior Director of Programs, and Mary Thomas, SMART’s Senior Director of Training and Evaluation, who will be facilitating a workshop at the upcoming National Partnership for Educational Access (NPEA) conference. NPEA elevates and amplifies a broad coalition of voices committed to educational access for students from under-resourced communities, kindergarten through college. In 2024, SMART received the national “Excellence in Educational Access” award from NPEA and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, affirming our commitment to ensuring all students, regardless of background, have equitable pathways to college.

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Leadership in Action: Scholar’s Vision for a Mission District Youth Council

(Winter 2025) – Adriel, an 11th grade SMART Scholar currently attending the Bay School SF, hopes to pursue a career in business, following in his parents’ footsteps. His parents run a street vending business in the Mission District, selling handmade Ecuadorian jackets, scarves, and other goods.

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SMART Scholar Wins San Francisco’s Youth of the Year Award

(Summer 2024) – Diego Miller, a recent graduate of Lowell High School, embodies the essence of a well-rounded individual. He’s not only a sports enthusiast with a love for soccer and football but also an anime aficionado who finds joy in exploring diverse interests. Academically inclined, Diego excels in writing-based subjects like English and History, while tackling math with determination and resilience.

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SMART Goes to College 2024 Photos

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SMART Tutor Guides Scholar Towards a College Degree

(Winter 2024) – Tianlee Chu, a San Francisco native, believes that “tutoring forges a positive mutual brain connection unlike almost anything else in the world. When two people work together to learn challenging subjects, they have to listen and respond actively to one another, and be willing to be vulnerable.”

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SMART Alum and Software Engineer Gives Back as Mentor

(Summer 2023) – “Oh, I love New York. Moving here is probably the best decision I’ve made in my life. Just because of how large a decision it was, and also because of all the unexpected, positive things that have happened since.”

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SMART Goes to College 2023 Photos

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“Coast to Coast”: How this SMART Scholar discovered college, her passion for science, and how to help others

(Spring 2023) – Currently a sophomore in college, Kathya’s unique SMART journey began in 9th Grade. Encouraged by her younger brother’s SMART experience, Kathya’s mother advocated for her to apply to SMART when she was in 8th Grade.

“It was during the interview process at SMART that I started to realize that college will take some planning, because so much of what we do in high school determines our college options.”

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SMART’s career conference inspired this Scholar’s dreams

(Fall 2022) – In late August 2022, SMART Scholar Aaliyah Perry moved to the east coast and started college at Mount Holyoke College. Mount Holyoke was high on Aaliyah’s list of college preferences, because of the college’s wide range of course offerings on her journey to becoming a licensed Speech Therapist. Aaliyah is already considering specialization and certifications in this field beyond college.

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How One SMART Teacher Bolstered Student Confidence and Love of Learning

(Fall 2022) – Nneka Williams has been teaching math and wellness since 1999. Last spring she came across an ad seeking a teacher for SMART’s 2022 Summer Academic Enrichment Program. She was intrigued by SMART’s stated organizational values, and specifically the value of Joy, which she believes is so important for learning. However, what she found most compelling was SMART’s program design that starts engaging students in 4th grade and supports them all the way through college graduation.

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