A Letter from Deby Grant-Bowman
I moved to Bend Oregon in 1995 after resigning my position as
Dean of Students at East West College of the Healing Arts in
Portland, Oregon.
I saw a small ad in the local newspaper, the Bend Bulletin that
said Central Oregon Community College (C.O.C.C.) 
had just been approved by the Oregon
Department of Education to start a massage therapy school in
Bend. Having taught various courses for over 15 years, I
decided to apply, for an instructor position. Long story short,
with 25 years of business administrative experience (at that
time), along with being a Licensed Massage Therapist in Oregon:
I was hired as the first director of the Massage Therapy
Program at C.O.C.C.
Due to the structure of the college, all courses were offered,
as separate entities. Often students would come to me and
express their frustrations regarding a lack of congruency from
course to course. My head and heart told me the students were
right, however, within the system it was not possible to make
significant changes.
Sage School of Massage & Healing Arts is new in name, but
not in expertise, integrity, and passion. I have
successfully practiced massage therapy for 17 years as a sole
proprietor; have 38 years of administrative/business expertise
today, and 28 years of teaching experience. My desire is
to give what I have been given and to inspire others to raise
the massage therapy standards in providing high quality health
and wellness to our community.
I listened to prior students, and with the assistance of our
faculty, we have developed an integrated curriculum with each
subject interwoven and reinforced throughout the entire
program. This innovative way of teaching theory and technique,
as it directly applies to practicing massage therapy, makes the
curriculum relevant and interesting. Students are able to make
a strong connection between their heads, hands and hearts as
they progress from subject to subject. We believe graduates
will have the competence to practice the art of healing
confidently, a step above an entry level practitioner, due to
the structure of our courses.
We chose the name, “sage”, because
a sage was a master of science and wisdom. The
“sage plant” is believed to have
spiritual and physical healing properties.
Our Mission is to "make a difference
in the lives of people in our community by educating
our students in the Art & Science of Clinical Massage
Therapy. Students learn how to use
clinical reasoning skills, for assessing conditions to treat
(such as chronic pain, injuries, stress, pain relief,
relaxation), with medical massage techniques that have a
scientific foundation to facilitate healing in each client. We
are dedicated to the success of our students and offer Job
placement opportunities after graduation to qualified students.
Welcome. This is what we are about!
