Tari Smethurst
Board Member

My name is Tari Smethurst and I am a math teacher for the Clark County School District. Including my time in Belize, Central America and serving as a Peace Corps volunteer on Kiribati Island, I have been an educator for 28 years.

I relocated to Nevada from central New York in 2000 upon returning from the Peace Corps. It was in New York that I made the switch from a career in Psychology to a career in Education. I was working as a counselor’s assistant at a prison in upstate New York when I was approached by an inmate. He requested my help in passing the math portion of his high school equivalency. I discovered I was much better at teaching math than I was at counseling!

My passions are exercising, traveling and community service. I served previously as a Trauma Intervention Volunteer, providing emotional support to survivors in traumatic situations including suicide, rape, homicide and unexpected death. I am currently training to be a C.A.S.A (Court Appointed Special Advocate) volunteer. I have also contributed to my community as a social entrepreneur by creating Books 2 Smiles, a project where students write and publish books for children in dire situations.

Above and beyond the classroom, I provide weekend math tutoring for both students and parents to close the opportunity gap. I was recognized for my commitment to my students by being selected as one of four finalists for Elementary Teacher of the Year by the Clark County
School District in 2024.

My life goal is to help others.