Part of what makes NHI such a great school is our low turnover rate – meaning we have to replace very little of our staff each year.  Mostly, we get the joy of adding new folks as the company grows.  As a manager, this sure beats having a lot of people quit on you or, worse yet, having to fire people.

Low turnover is especially true among our teachers.  At this campus, we haven’t seen a teacher depart in over a year when one retired after almost a decade of service.  But yesterday our streak came to an end.

Jan, Joe Bob, John & Amy share one last chocolate cake!

Our beloved Amy Atkins has bid us adieu.  Luckily, she didn’t quit and she wasn’t fired.  Instead, Uncle Sam came calling – or, rather, called up her husband.  He’s in the army and has been deployed to Kansas, where he will no doubt protect all Midwesterners from cyclones, munchkins, and flying monkeys.

Some of you may recognize Amy as “the face” of NHI.  Her image is plastered on our website, in our brochures, and even hangs on our walls.  Had she a better agent (or any agent) back when, she would now be living high off royalties since we’ve used her effigy so much.  But Amy was just a student in those days and had no idea for what she was volunteering.  Even we didn’t know at the time that her face would be used for years to come.  There was just something about it that spoke of the tranquility and love that is massage.

Amy graduated from NHI and went on to do well as a massage therapist both in Northern and Southern California.  Who knew that a few years later, NHI would open a campus near her in Los Angeles and that she would come back to teach.  It seems Amy and NHI are never too far apart.  So, it’s my expectation that eventually Amy will find her way back to us or we’ll simply have to open a campus in Kansas.

If you happen to see this face around, tell her that we love her, miss her, and wish her all the best!

My favorite part of NHI?  The people.  In addition to many great administrative, financial and admissions staff, we have over 40 mostly full-time teachers spread across our 5 campuses!

All of our teachers have at least 500 hours training and 3 years experience in massage.  But numbers alone don’t fully define our teachers.  Each one is his or her own person.  They combine their diverse backgrounds of massage, business, and good ol’ life to create a rich tapestry of knowledge that enhances our educational program.

They also have families.  And their families make up our extended family.  So it’s with great pride that we announce the latest addition to our NHI “family” – baby Griffin, the 2^nd child of our beloved teacher, Jeanette Ching!  Sister Emma and Daddy Jerome are so excited!  Mommy Jeanette is due back to work at NHI at the end of September, mentoring her group 18 in Emeryville.

Jeanette's baby, Griffin

In addition, one of our other babies isn’t a baby anymore!  Lisa Mendiola’s little girl, Adrianne Sage, turns one-year-old on August 23^rd.  And she already knows how to swim!

Lisa's baby, Sage

BodyWorlds will forever change the way you view the human body.  Four years ago, I had the good fortune to see the first BodyWorlds tour – an incredible experience!  Anatomy drawings, pictures, and models just don’t compare to seeing the complexity and intricate details of the real thing.  However, when I recently went to Bodyworlds 3 at the California Science Center here in Los Angeles, I was even luckier to be in the company of some of our outstanding teachers.  Getting insight from those who teach this stuff every day was its own education.

For those not familiar with it, BodyWorlds is an exhibit of real human bodies preserved through plastination.  These bodies are donated for the purpose of science; at the end of the exhibit, you can read testimonials explaining why some people chose to donate themselves.  The wild success of BodyWorlds has led to copycat exhibits of lesser quality.  While the science community has questioned the ethics of these imitators, the original BodyWorlds has consistently proven itself to be a reputable organization.

Our teachers have led some more field trips for our students since then, but for those going on their own, we put together the following tips.  This L.A. exhibit closes September 7, 2008, so you must hurry.  Otherwise, check the BodyWorlds website for a visit near you.

Click Here for BodyWorlds 3 Teacher Tips

NHI Teachers at BodyWorlds 3

On a related note, over this past weekend I watched a German horror film that uses plastinated bodies as its storyline.  It’s called Anatomie and stars Franka Potente (Run, Lola, Run).  It’s certainly not respectful towards the scientific intent of BodyWorlds, but if you enjoy German horror films, you’ll probably like it.  Apparently it was good enough to warrant a sequel – creatively titled Anatomie 2.  Viewing Tip: I saw the version with cheesy English voiceovers; it would have been much better in the original German with English subtitles.