The highest compliment we can give to anyone is to let them shape and nurture our daughter.  This is what we have let Mrs. and Mr. Newberry do for more than half of Jacquie's life.  Jacquie's two most enduring role models have been Mrs. Newberry and Blessed Mother Teresa.  These are the only people she has ever tried to emulate.  Mr. Newberry has taught her how to set goals in life, how to work hard and how to persevere to achieve those goals.  All of this has been done with kindness, caring, and at times needed correction, but always with theirs and God's love.

My wife and I started our daughter Jacquie two months before she turn 6 years old at Newberry's.  We tried dance and gymnastics then started to look at martial arts.  In the process we looked at several martial arts schools in the area and decided to try Newberry's because they had a program called Tiny Tigers which was designed for young children.  The Tiny Tiger's program had three very big selling features -- Mrs. Newberry, Miss Jennifer Gardner, and Mr. Wright.  These three instructors motivate the little people to want to learn, do their best and to live the three secrets of life (listen, pay attention, and follow instructions).  Jacquie lives those three secrets every day of her life and they have paid off.  She is now a 3^rd Degree Black Belt which she earned at the age of 11, and has been awarded Junior Trainee of the Year two years in a row.

I have been so impressed with Newberry's ATA Black Belt Academy that in November of 2004, I join their leadership team.  I am several years older than the Newberry's, but I have learned a great deal from them.  We (Jacquie and I) will always be their students and friends. Jacquie and I have set our shared goal of becoming school owners, and we will keep Mr. and Mrs. Newberry the heart of our school.  This is one way we can give back some of the kindness and guidance that we have been given.

Scott Novak