Helping Students Find Their Inner Artist at Sunshine Academy
by Darren Becker
When it comes to creating art, Josée-France Girard, an Integration Aide at Sunshine Academy, lives by the motto “There’s beauty in everything you make.” Josee-France, who is affectionately known to members of the school community as Ms. Jo, is also not someone to shy away from a challenge. That would partly explain what drove her to oversee the creation of a mural comprising over 2,500 bottle caps that had to be collected, cleaned and organized and took 90 hours to install.
The Bottle Cap Mural was an idea that originated at Sunshine Academy’s Lunchtime Art Club that Ms. Jo oversees every week. The club provides students with an environment where they can explore and/or expand their artistic sides in an unstructured relaxed and nurturing environment. Ms. Jo said she was overwhelmed by the generosity of many members of the community who provided her with the supplies she needed to complete the project, including paint, brushes, plywood, screws and, of course, bottle caps! The finished mural was installed last June at Sunshine Academy in a hallway that is adjacent to the gymnasium.
Ms. Jo said the Bottle Cap Mural project was extremely rewarding for everyone involved, including students, staff and parents. She added that it exemplifies many of the reasons why she enjoys working as an Integration Aide.
“We’re always there throughout the school day to provide support and encouragement for the students. We’re like the Big Brothers and Big Sisters in the room and can pick up on subtleties in the classroom and address issues that sometimes arise. I love being an Integration Aide and am so fortunate to have this job. I can’t imagine doing anything else,” she said.
Ms. Jo’s love of working in the education sector actually came a little later in her life after she initially pursued a career in fashion design, make-up artistry, hair styling and textile fabric art.
“I studied fashion design and worked in the field but ultimately realized that it wasn’t what I wanted to do,” she said.
It was only after a long-time friend suggested that she should try applying for an Integration Aide position that Ms. Jo said she realized she had finally found her calling in life.
“Even on the very first day that I spent in a classroom there was something in my heart that just clicked as I got to witness how working with children is such a noble cause.”
Ms. Jo started off working as an Integration Aide in 2017 at Riverdale before moving to Sunshine Academy where she has been working for the last six years.
Now that the Bottle Cap Mural project is completed, Ms. Jo said she is taking a bit of a step-back before she commits to another large-scale artistic project at the school. With the leftover bottles caps, the Art Club kids have made their own mini mosaics to take off.
“I’m still catching my breath from the mural and am waiting for that spark to inspire me for the next big idea, which I’m sure is around the corner” she said.
In the interim, members of the Sunshine community will continue to witness her infectious love of the school’s Art Club that she maintains and allows students to express themselves in whatever creative capacity that they choose.
“Everyone, whether it be students or adults, can be an artist and should explore their creative side however they wish to do so.”
