I Love My Brain | SMARTSANANTONIO

EDUCATION

****NEWS FLASH****

In 2025 S.M.A.R.T. expands brain programming to 2nd and 4th grades!

I Love My Brain Campaign

Since 2018, S.M.A.R.T. has been educating 3rd grade Briscoe students about the brain. At S.M.A.R.T. we know that understanding how your brain works leads to ownership of learning and healthier self regulation. Through the intersection of creativity and neuroscience we aim to democratize brain health and empower students for healthy emotional development.

Meeting Dr.'s Grenier and Soteros for the first time!

Briscoe 3rd Grade students' first introduction to art and neuroscience in our frame shop.

The moment of first sparks meeting a brain.

Meeting Dr.'s Grenier and Soteros for the first time!

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The Beginning

In 2018 we launched our inaugural four week 3rd Grade Art is Neuroscience class led by our PhD candidates. Today, Doctors Bree Soteros and Amandine Grenier along with S.M.A.R.T. have evolved together, expanded programming and are dedicated to making brain health accessible while empowering young minds to understand the brain-heart connection.

Dr. of Neuroscience

Dr. Bree Soteros

Dr. Soteros is a neuroscientist by training whose work sits at the intersection of neuroscience and immunology. Witnessing the devastating impacts of chronic stress on the brain has fueled her passion for supporting resilience and wellbeing in community. Inside and outside the lab she is an avid microsopist and loves to share the joy of microscopy with others! She is a 2022 winner of the Mind Science BrainStorm Neuroscience Pitch Competition. Soteros is deeply driven to democratize brain knowledge. We love her!

Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. Amandine E. Grenier is a neuroscientist who explores how children’s brains work when they are learning. She uses a technique called electroencephalography (EEG) to record brain waves and study how the brain processes concepts like math. Dr. Grenier has always been fascinated by how the brain learns and encodes information into memory and asks questions like: Where are memories stored? How do we even remember so many things? How do bilinguals handle memories across different languages? Do we learn more effectively when creativity is involved? These are the questions that guide her research. Outside the lab, she enjoys cooking, baking and hosting and also loves volunteering at a local animal shelter. Dr. Grenier is proud to partner with S.M.A.R.T. to inspire children to explore the brain and to highlight the critical role of art and creativity in learning.

Team

Our committed neuroscience team is dedicated to shaping the minds of our future leaders through brain empowerment.

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2024 - 2025 Phase I

Up to this point, our neuroscience classes were for 4 weeks. In 2024 we piloted the year long Brain Ambassador program through a UT Health grant awarded to Dr. Grenier. The goal was to prove that art and basic neuroscience can meaningfully enrich the classroom experience. Through a fully volunteer based effort, we created and delivered weekly hands-on lessons where we explored different brain lobes, practiced emotional regulation strategies, and made real world connections to brain science. By mid year, they could name and identify the lobes on a real human brain, and by spring, they stood proudly as peer educators, leading activities at our first ever school-wide Brain Fair.

2nd Grade, October 2025: Brain Intro class: What if Your Brain was a Pet?

What do you do to take care of your pet? What if your brain was a pet? What would it look like? How would you take care of it? :)

2nd Grade, October 2025: Brain Intro class: What if Your Brain was a Pet?

What do you do to take care of your pet? What if your brain was a pet? What would it look like? How would you take care of it? :)

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2025 - 2026 program expands

We are excited to announce that Art is Neuroscience programming is expanding to 2nd and 4th through two separate UT Health grants. Second grade will get monthly visits to introduce the brain and fourth grade will be participating in a year long EEG study on creativity and the brain! More pics to come.