About smART breaks

Hope Stone, Inc. is an arts nonprofit organization in Houston, Texas, with a mindful arts education program called The Hope Project. We annually reach over 700 students in their schools through music, theatre, and dance classes, along with digital arts, photography, and sewing/fashion design. The pandemic quickly changed all that, and the idea to create a digital library of 37 classes called “smART breaks” was born.

In partnership with Stages, one of Houston’s premiere professional theatre companies, the stage and set were built to film dance, theater and music classes (15-30 minutes in length) for students ranging in age from early learning (2-5 years) to upper elementary (3rd to 5th grades). With 2 actors, 15 teaching artists, writers, a camera crew and even a mascot (Pat, the purple fish) in place, smART breaks began!

Welcome to a wonderful video voyage that takes any young student on a digital journey of art, mindfulness, and curiosity.

What does a smART breaks episode look like? Each dance, theater or music episode is introduced by two longtime friends – pilot and adventurist Captain Hope and gardener and nursing student Mr. Zo, who moved from Nice, California to Houston, Texas. Settled into their new home at Stages, they invite their teaching artist friends and neighbors over to teach engaging and fun classes.

Mr. Zo and Captain Hope will connect to students through their humor and compassion, demonstrating that friends have much to learn from each other. Social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies – self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making – are all woven into smART breaks classes.

While designed and developed for elementary students Pre-K through 5th grade, older students may also enjoy the videos depending on their level of arts exposure.

Each smART breaks class has viewing options (downloadable, Vimeo or YouTube) and is accompanied by two worksheets for parents or teachers to use with their students – a vocabulary list for creative activities, and a Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) Guide with Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Competencies.