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Body shop--Helen "Sandy" Johnson, teacher at the Gorse Child Study Center, returned to her native New Orleans recently to tell teachers, parents, and the Times-Picayune about her innovative method of teaching young children about their bodies. Her new book, The Growing Edge, presents an approach in which preschoolers build life-sized models of their bodies. Johnson says that studying the body has led her students to a fascination with the nature of life, and to an understanding of one of the common bonds of humanity linking people of all races and backgrounds. "This is the most powerful tool I could have dreamed of in terms of helping prevent and deflect early racism," Johnson told the Times-Picayune. "And I'm coming home [to New Orleans] saying I've found something that helps kids grow up healthy."