Our Proud History
From Humble Beginnings to Continually Blazed Paths
“Know from whence you came.
If you know whence you came, there are absolutely no limitations to where you can go.”
~ James Baldwin
A conversation between a newlywed African-American couple in the 1920s went something along these lines:
Wife: My children are going to get a good education.
Husband: You don’t need a good education to be a sharecropper.
Wife: You’re right. That’s exactly why they’re going to get a good education.
Unbeknownst to her, Carrie “Mae” Terry’s resolve was actually a seed planted. It was the ultimate catalyst for what would eventually flourish and become Terry Learning Center Foundation. A substitute teacher in Harris County, Georgia, Ms. Terry exhibited her love for and commitment to education not only in her daily occupation, but also by doing mission work in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (CME). Her mission’s work led her to implement supplemental education programs in Sunday Schools where she taught reading, writing and arithmetic in many communities in South Georgia.
Technology was not what it is today in 1928, and transportation options were limited. Nevertheless, Ms. Terry’s approach at learning quickly became proven effective, so she traveled the country to assure that her methodology reached as many as possible. In 1994, her grandson, Vincent Terry, adopted her concept and used it as a pilot program. Thus, the birth of Terry Learning Center Foundation predecessors and its concept of educating students. Shared herein are the highlights of our history.
“Know from whence you came.
If you know whence you came, there are absolutely no limitations to where you can go.”
~ James Baldwin
A conversation between a newlywed African-American couple in the 1920s went something along these lines:
Wife: My children are going to get a good education.
Husband: You don’t need a good education to be a sharecropper.
Wife: You’re right. That’s exactly why they’re going to get a good education.
Unbeknownst to her, Carrie “Mae” Terry’s resolve was actually a seed planted. It was the ultimate catalyst for what would eventually flourish and become Terry Learning Center Foundation. A substitute teacher in Harris County, Georgia, Ms. Terry exhibited her love for and commitment to education not only in her daily occupation, but also by doing mission work in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (CME). Her mission’s work led her to implement supplemental education programs in Sunday Schools where she taught reading, writing and arithmetic in many communities in South Georgia.
Technology was not what it is today in 1928, and transportation options were limited. Nevertheless, Ms. Terry’s approach at learning quickly became proven effective, so she traveled the country to assure that her methodology reached as many as possible. In 1994, her grandson, Vincent Terry, adopted her concept and used it as a pilot program. Thus, the birth of Terry Learning Center Foundation predecessors and its concept of educating students. Shared herein are the highlights of our history.
- 1928 Carrie “Mae” Terry began a supplemental education program in Harris County, Georgia.
- 1984 Vincent Terry started his professional coaching and educational career with Atlanta Public Schools.
- 1994 Through the non-profit, Project Save Our Youth, Dr. Vincent Terry, grandson on Mae Terry, started an educational tutorial program with 50 students at J.C. Harris Elementary School (Atlanta, GA).
- 1994 As the non-profit, United Youth of America, launched a student banking program and supplemental education program at Atlanta’s Washington High School. Both programs achieved national acclaim to the extent that five other states modeled them.
- 1997 Vincent Terry developed a political science program at Washington High School to allow over 500 students to actively participate in the 1997 presidential election.
- 1998 Founded Westminster Foundation and begin teaching home buyers educational programs to the general public.
- 1998 Westminster Foundation partnered with former National Football League (NFL) player Carl Williams of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Fannie Mae to sponsor a youth football camp at Atlanta's Booker T. Washington High School and a Unity March aimed at providing education and raising awareness about alternatives to drugs, violence, and unwanted pregnancies. The sponsors also had educational workshops and programs to teach life skills, such as managing a bank account and credit repair.
- 2000 Collaborated with Cape and Bern Information Technology School to provide computer related and technical oriented training to adult students. Through this joint effort, we helped bridge the digital divide by educating well over 25,000 students.
- 2002 As Westminster Foundation, was approved by the State of Alabama to offer continuous education courses for mortgage brokers for the State of Alabama.
- 2002 Westminster Foundation partnered with city, county, state and national leaders from Birmingham, Alabama, including Mayor Bernard Kincaid and U.S. Representative, Earl Hilliard, to provide the community with financial home buying education and to spearhead a pilot project to bring $100 million in funding for loans, grants and programs to assist people in buying homes. The summit also drew letters of support from U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions and Governor Don Siegelman.
- 2004 Vincent Terry partners with Jair Inc. to initiate a supplemental education program in Oakland (CA) Public School District.
- 2005 The name “Terry Learning Center” was chosen to honor the life and work of Carrie “Mae” Terry. With our new name, we also changed our focus to meet the educational needs of disadvantaged students as defined by the federal “Elementary Secondary Education Act” in multiple states.
- 2005 Terry Learning Center launched supplemental education programs in the states of Missouri and Ohio.
- 2005 Terry Learning Center was tapped to assist the Cleveland Public Schools District. A pilot program was started at JFK High School to help them meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP.) The District was in a status of academic emergency because they had not met the requirements of AYP in five years.
- 2006 Terry Learning Center expands its supplemental educational program to the State of Georgia.
- 2007 Terry Learning Center, in collaboration with the United States Department of Education and other educational advocates, helped develop an Ohio graduation Test (OGT) program that moved the Cleveland Public Schools District from academic emergency to continuous improvement.
- 2008 Terry Learning Center moves its headquarter offices from Cleveland Ohio to Atlanta Georgia.
- 2009 Mike Terry joins Terry Learning Center as Vice President of Operations.
- 2010 The Obama Administration made a plea for educational organizations to help develop programs that would decrease the dropout rate, increase the graduation rate, increase the college graduation rate, and Terry Learning Center began to develop a program that would do just that. However, we concluded that in order to be successful in that, the need for a post-secondary institution was paramount.
- 2010 Mike Terry becomes President of Terry Learning Center and leads expansion efforts to the states of New York, South Carolina, and Texas.
- 2010 Terry Learning Center Foundation is started to financially support students with academic needs.
- 2010 Vincent Terry and Mike Terry initiate plans to establish Terry University.
- 2010 Terry Learning Center becomes an approved supplemental educational provider in the states of Texas and New York.
- 2011 Terry Learning Center is approved as a supplemental educational provider in the State of South Carolina.
- 2011 Terry Learning Center piloted its online learning system with students in New York City’s school district.
- 2012 Georgia Governor Nathan Deal acknowledges that education is the key to economic success in our state.
- 2012 Vincent and Mike Terry make application with the Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission (NPEC) for the establishment and full authorization of Terry University to meet the needs of the President and the Governor. Further, we began to write programs that would fulfill the vision of our governor and the request of our President to transform our educational system as we now know it.
- 2013 On July 19, 2013, we were awarded university status by the NPEC to begin fulfilling those needs and the request from our political officials. Based on our research and to the best of our knowledge, this authorization made us the first African American owned fully authorized university in the State of Georgia since Morris Brown University 1912. Morris Brown University has since changed its name to Morris Brown College, however, it had a concept that it was designed to help non-traditional student. “As the school of the second chance,” we use this concept with today’s technology to bridge educational gaps for all students desiring to improve their lives, families and communities through education.”
- 2014 Contracted with Georgia Preparatory Football Academy to provide housing and supplemental educational services to assist players with their NCAA academic eligibility requirements.
- 2018 Jarvis Johnson, Founder of Connect The Gaps, joins Terry Learning Center Foundation as Director of Educational and Athletic Programs.
- 2019 We partnered with American Internation School of Medicine to help recruit and train new doctors.