HUNTSVILLE —



In 1997, after her mother died, Carmen Irving said decided wanted to do something to continue

the legacy of the beloved Huntsville educator.

That year, Irving started a scholarship foundation in her mother’s name, which in 2006 became known as the Roxie Douglas Learning Institute.

The institute developed an afterschool program with GED and ESL classes, but there seemed

to be a bigger need with children and the afterschool program, Irving said, so the school expanded.

Now it’s expanding again.

Registration begins for the Roxie Douglas Learning Institute Preparatory Daycare July 25, with classes starting August 1 and a new assistant director on board. This 12-month program will accommodate students 2-13 years from 4 a.m. to 6

p.m., weekdays with a 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. shift in the near future.

The Institute will instruct students in phonetic awareness, recognition and writing of letters, numbers, colors, shapes and recognition. Older children in the after school program will be tutored for TAKS preparation in reading and math.

The institute has also added Gayle King Winfrey as the new assistant director of the daycare over the daily art and robotics program, which

will teach students how to work together as a team and prepare them for studies in engineering.

“[Winfrey] has a lot of innovative ideas and that excited me because I want us to be more than just babysitters. We want our students to really learn and get that foundation,” Irving said.

Winfrey said she knows this is what she was born to do.

“It’s just my gifting,” she said. “I know what it is that I can do and I know what I can’t do and putting together curriculum and teaching children is something I can do and I’ve done all of my life.”

As a second grade teacher at Huntsville Elementary School, Winfrey was introduced to the power of a robotics program. She was intrigued by how robotics can incorporate both artistic and linear thinking children. It was this program that catalyzed the new mother and graduate to this new phase in her life as part of the institute.

“It’s been a combination of things, it wasn’t just one thing, it’s just the path that God has laid out for me has been sort of eclectic I’ve worked with many different people and many different disciplines,” Winfrey said.

If the late Douglas was here today to meet the new assistant director of the foundation, Irving said she would be pleased.

“Anything that would improve our program she would be excited about,” Irving said. “She had a love for education in everything she did; that’s all we knew was education. My father was a math professor so he would love the idea of the robotics program, so I think they would both be very pleased.”

Irving said her mother always felt that the first six years is where a child is prepared for life, something the institute strives to uphold.

“My mother and I had a daycare together and every one of our students that was in that

 aycare graduated, and most of them with honors,” she said. “So we are very serious about giving that foundation and really teaching them reading first. Sue Hall, our educational director, is reading specialist and she has 31 years in the school district. My second master's is in reading, so we are really concerned about our students not able to read. We are really serious about them getting it with us so they

can go forward. “

Winfrey said the institute’s educational experience is what sets them apart from other area programs.

“We know what works and what doesn’t work,” she said. “Our group has taken those things, gleaned the things that worked, kept them, and now we’re going to implement them to help the children to achieve these wonderful goals.”

The institute is also introducing an art program, parterning with the Huntsville Arts Commission to teach children the value of visual arts.

“We’re going to open our art that the students do to the public so tourists can come and see the beautiful art because we know it’s going to be beautiful, “ Irving said with a laugh. “So we’re probably going to have open house each month or something where the community

can come in and be a part of our program.”

The Institute is also selling ads and tickets for the 2011 Roxie Douglas Scholarship Banquet, which is scheduled for August 27.

The banquet will be honoring 2011 scholarship recipient Cherie Lee as well as 2011 Humanitarians Joseph Castille, Dr. Harley and Marjorie Rex and Anissa Antwine, a teacher with the Institute since 2006.

For more information about ads and tickets, or how to get involved with the

institute, contact Irving at (936) 668-0340. The Institute will is open weekdays and is located at 719 10th Street.