Nail instructor Kim Meecham has found a unique way to show off the nail art done by her 11th grade class at St. Joseph-Scollard Hall Catholic District Secondary School in North Bay, Ontario. A teacher in the Hairstyling and Aesthetics program, Meecham requires her students to complete a minimum of 10 nail art designs, painted on nail tips, to be graded. After that, she attaches the tips to an oversized cutout of a polish bottle, creating an eye-catching display for the school hallway. Not only are the nail students proud to have their work viewed by their peers, the display inspires younger students to learn about the program.

When faced with the task of doing nail art for the first time, Meecham’s students are understandably nervous. “Some worry that they are not artistic enough,” she says, “but once they start coming up with different designs and ideas, they become addicted.” Meecham supplies outlines of different shaped nails on a piece of paper. The students sketch out a tentative design with pencil, crayons, or markers, and get her approval before starting work on the actual nail tip. “When they submit their final nails, they must tell me why they chose each design, what shape they selected, and how they filed the nail to achieve this shape,” she says. The students must also give a detailed report on each step, from base coat to top coat, and even include how long they waited for the polish to dry between applications.

For Meecham, the hardest part of the whole process turns out to be finding the right size tips. “Lately, it’s becoming more difficult to find nail tips in size 2 or 3. Hopefully I will be able to find a solution, since this is an assignment my students love,” she says.