Petaluma held the first National Holistic Institute classes outside of the “Mother Ship” (in Emeryville), on July 27^th 2005.  The celebration activities included plenty of reminiscing, smiles, and expressed gratitude to the many members of the NHI community staff who contributed to our campus’ success. 

The campus buzzed with excitement and sentiment as we celebrated with stories of the pioneering days of start up and the wonderful expansion and growth of our campus. The Petaluma Campus halls were decorated with photos from the faces of over 240 grads that have gone through the program during the last 5 years! 

Included special guests were NHI President Tim Veitzer and Executive Vice President Mason Myers, Vice President of Education Linda Rikli, Faculty Training Coordinator and AMTA Teacher of the Year Melissa Wheeler, Curriculum Director Jim O’Hara, Dean of Students Ron Peat, former Petaluma Campus teacher/mentor and current San Francisco Campus Manager Tiahna Skye, former associate teacher Jennifer Willoughby and the entire Petaluma staff including Campus Manager Klayna Snider; Placement Manager Allison McLeod Budlong; teacher/mentors Lucas Nevarez, Mark Nielsen, Breanna Gieseker; teacher Shoshana Frieden and Sr. TA Jacqui Peterson . In addition, special honorary mentions were given to longtime TA Jeanne Murphy for her dedication to the NHI staff and students as our teacher’s assistant for over 3 years!

Each of our guests was treated to an hour of luxurious massage by our wonderful students and grads. Those who participated as part of our special massage team for the day were; Jean Murphy, Kathy Centeno, Marissa Mowinckel, Stacy DesJardins, Aidan Sheehan, Gio Sevieri, Tracy Mancheno, Tara Ward, Kelli Ashcraft, Akilah Tutt, Cheri Keene and Kenol Felix. Our guests were thrilled with the special treat of receiving massage as an expression of gratitude from our gifted and highly skilled students and grads!  Several NHI staff members have remarked that although the massages were remarkable, one of the highlights of the afternoon was hearing the individual success stories of each student and graduate that attended.

In addition, Allison and Breanna prepared with great love and care, the most delicious, homemade spring rolls and lettuce wraps, fruit assortment and cake.

It was a sweet celebration all the way around and staff and students were left with a great sense of pride and appreciation for our Sweet Petaluma NHI Campus that lives in the heart of the wine and spa industry countryside.

Melissa Wheeler addresses her peers at All-Staff Day.

The American Massage Therapy Association has awarded the 2010 Jerome Perlinski Teacher of the Year Award to Melissa Wheeler, a longtime National Holistic Institute teacher and current teacher trainer.

To the many teachers, staff, and students Melissa has touched in her 19 years at NHI, no one deserves it more.  One of the highlights of this year’s NHI All-Staff Day was Melissa’s address to her peers and receiving of a scrapbook created by co-worker Sharlene Philip, containing numerous memories, congratulations, and accolades.  While Melissa remains as humble as always about this rare honor, here are words of praise from others:

“It has been my pleasure to work with Melissa, whose input always puts the teacher first in the education committee’s roles and initiatives.” – Ruth Werner, author and President of the Massage Therapy Foundation

“Melissa is one of those rare and special educators who help ignite the passion for Massage Therapy in all of those who are fortunate enough to learn from her.” – Rhoni Hirst, Books of Discovery

“Another example would be one particular student that faced numerous challenges, the least of which being a recently paroled ex-convict.  He came to Melissa to seek advice on how to construct a resume, interview skills and generally just how to get past being a large, loud, tattooed gentleman and help him find the therapist within (this being no easy task in itself).  That graduate now has a thriving private practice and a top position in a local massage therapy center.  To say the above mentioned student was a challenge is an understatement.  I should know, I am that student.” – Christopher Sanderson, former student

“From her remarkable work as a Kinesiology teacher, where she presented the information with enthusiasm and passion, to the daily contact we had where she saw me as a unique individual, no just one of several hundred, Melissa’s impact has been profound.” – Bonnie Rodriguez, student

AMTA presents an award each year to an instructor in a member school who demonstrates exceptional teaching abilities and commitment to high standards of education in massage therapy. This award honors the memory of Jerome Perlinski, an extraordinary educator and much loved leader. Jerome Perlinski is remembered for his recognition of the gifts and talents of others and his ability to bring out their best. A consumer and advocate of massage therapy who was not a practitioner, Jerome held a doctorate in the history of ideas from St. Louis University. He was a widely experienced teacher and lecturer whose committed work helped raise training standards, improve teaching methods and educate massage practitioners about the importance of ethical, professional behaviors. He also played an instrumental role in the early development of the Council of Schools. When colleagues remember Jerome, they use words like inspired, passionate, motivating, principled, and exceptional.

We’ll be cheering Melissa on as she accepts the award and presents at the AMTA National Convention in Minneapolis this September.  We also look forward to many more years of inspiration from her!

NHI owner Mason Myers, Teacher Trainer Melissa Wheeler, and Advanced Program Manager Al Carbonetti share a laugh at the All-Staff Day bowling party.

With the help of Susan Koenig, we reconnected with our roots.  Susan was part of the trio that helped create NHI.

Linda Rikli, VP of Education, serves up the cake commemorating our 30^th anniversary.

NHI owner Mason Myers and VP of Admissions Jennifer Jhanda mark an admissions milestone with some hip-hop aerobics.

Believe it or not, these folks are forming a human toothbrush.  You just had to be there to understand why.

But most importantly, we reconnected on a deeper level with the “friends and family” more commonly known as our co-workers.

Team Encino visits Staff Day from Southern California

As with most families, at NHI the holidays are a time to gather and enjoy each other’s company…

Share laughs and memories of times past…

And wish everyone a joyous, healthy, and prosperous New Year!

Three Scorpios and a Capricorn - Mason, Nancy, Jenelle and Tim.

At every quarterly meeting we celebrate all staff birthdays occurring before our next quarterly meeting (and then we often celebrate them again when they actually occur – we’re a celebrating bunch!).  In this picture, our President Mason Myers shares a birthday on November 5 with teacher Nancy Gouge, followed by admissions representative Jenelle Menashe on November 16, and squeezing in just before the quarterly deadline is our Director of Development Tim Veitzer on December 29.

Even in these shaky economic times, NHI had a lot to celebrate at the quarterly meeting as enrollment increased 22% in our 3^rd quarter over 2007!  Also, our completion and placement numbers are tracking higher than last year’s extremely good numbers.  When times get tough, it’s nice to know people still value the benefits of both massage therapy and proper career training.

We both knew what a treasure TTI was to the L.A. massage community.  While TTI had come highly referred to me, Ed actually attended another school for a short while.  It was so bad that all of his classmates dropped out and the school cancelled his class.  So, against the advice of our accountants, lawyers, families, friends, astrologers and the voice of reason, we bought Touch Therapy. 

Ed would never let down.

With plenty of blood, sweat, tears, a whole lot of our savings, and much laughter, we turned the school around financially while maintaining its quality of education.  Enrollment rose; completion rates soared; and all was good.  But feedback from graduates and employers told us that TTI’s main 200-hour program was no longer adequate.  Therapists needed more training to compete in today’s market.  Exploring how to extend our curriculum, I met Mason Myers, President of National Holistic Institute.

Over tacos in San Diego, Mason told me how great NHI is.  I countered by telling him how amazing TTI was.  He invited me up to San Francisco to see his campus and arm wrestle over the matter.  When I stepped foot into NHI, I felt like I was at Touch Therapy – only bigger.  So impressed was I, that I let him win the arm wrestling match (but don’t tell him that).  Talks of a merge began.  TTI needed a longer program and NHI wanted to expand to Southern California.  It was a match made in heaven.  I stayed on to manage the Los Angeles campus in Encino.

Now 2 years later, I massage paperwork more than people, but I wouldn’t trade my NHI experiences for the world.  I look forward to sharing these adventures with you as we go along.