Boothbay Regions Elementary School art educator Jessica Nadeau has been named Maine Elementary Art Educator of the Year by Maine Art Education Association (MAEA), a member-based group that supports art programming in schools and communities.

“I would not be half the educator I am without my BRES colleagues, mentors like (Boothbay Region High School art educator) Manon Lewis, and all the art educators I am fortunate to connect with through (MAEA),” Nadeau told the Register via email.

MAEA President Cory Bucknam nominated Nadeau for her excellence in teaching through displacement. Beginning with COVID quarantines, when students and teachers could not meet in person, and continuing today as Nadeau works out of a locker room at Boothbay Region High School since the elementary school’s flood. “My classroom at BRES is in the wing that’s sectioned off. Yesterday (May 1) was the first day I’ve had access to it since March,” she said.

During COVID challenges, Nadeau encouraged her students to “get outside and create.” There are still several painted rainbow rocks around Boothbay and the harbor that students made during quarantine. “I worked out of a cart for six months,” she said. “It was nice when we could be together in person again, but the constant sanitation of surfaces and supplies (everything from brushes to scissors to markers), as well as shifting schedules and curricula, it was hard.” The following day, Nadeau taught at Camp Knickerbocker and the Episcopal Church, where some displaced students are attending school.

“Jessica fights hard for her beliefs and advocates strongly for her students and her program. She has made these last couple of months of  “displacement” rich in art-making experiences so that her students have had ample opportunities to express themselves in many, many mediums. I have witnessed this myself, right outside my door! I have seen Jessica teach through COVID and have now seen her working from the high school (hallways) with her young students, because of the “Great Flood” at BRES, Lewis wrote in her award presentation speech to Nadeau. Lewis wrote a letter of support to MAEA upon learning of Nadeau’s nomination.

Lewis taught Nadeau at BRHS, and served on the hiring committee when Nadeau got the BRES job.

“Jessica is a proponent of collaboration and collegiality. She often creates assignments that employ interaction and collaboration among students,” Lewis wrote.

“For me, art helped me survive, being creative gave me a voice when I didn’t feel like I had one. It gave me coping skills. I try to be warm and welcoming with every student. I am open and receptive to where they are. I don’t know what they’re going through, but everyone needs a place to express themselves. When we collaborate with others, we feel like we’re all together,” said Nadeau.

Encouraged by her recent grant award for students to collaborate with artist Pamela Moulton, Nadeau sees more opportunity to connect Boothbay’s rich art community to the schools’ art education programs.

The same conditions, attitudes and behaviors that support creativity are used in societal problem solving, she said. “Our community is in flux, with where we are and where we’re going. Do we build a new school, how do we solve affordable housing, how do we support our lobstermen, etc. We have to figure it out. Art provides an understanding of process and develops critical thinking. My students spend a lot of time learning what to do with mistakes. Oops, you made an error. You’re not going to throw the entire art piece out, so how can you fix it? How can you incorporate the mistake into a reimagined piece?”

Nadeau has taught art for 15 years. She attended Bennington College in Vermont, Maine College of Art, and received her MAT (Master of Art Teaching) from The Art of Education University. As an artist, she enjoys working with mixed media collage and fiber. She recently attended Deer Isle’s Haystack School where she studied weaving.

Nadeau’s art can be seen throughout town. During the pandemic, she was inspired by the book, “Maybe Something Beautiful, How Art Transformed A Neighborhood,” by Campoy, Howell and Lopez (Clarion, 2016) and began creating heart flags from discarded sails out of her studio in East Boothbay.

“Jessica is a caring individual and shows this on a daily basis in the way that she interacts and speaks to children, calling on and acknowledging each student by name….and always with a quick smile! Her skills, energy and caring do not end in the art room but extend to her life outside of school,” Lewis wrote.