LANETT, Ala. — On Thursday, members of the West Point Rotary Club witnessed a presentation of the doctors Rice on a mission. The doctors are Tim and Candy Rice. Both have Ph.Ds and are serving as consultants for Springwood School.

They got were initiated into the Springwood family last spring by taking on the task of heading up Wildcat Work Day. They coordinated 27 work sites, handled assignments for 367 volunteers and contributed a cumulative total of 1,101 service hours to benefit the local community.

Headmaster Rick Johnson told the Rotarians that the doctors Rice will help with the startup of Springwood’s International House. A ribbon cutting to open the new building will be taking place at 11 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 3.

Up to 10 international students will be staying there the first year of this novel program that seeks to build bridges to all corners of the world.

Tim and Candy have taken their expertise in counseling all across the North American continent.

“We’ve taken our RV to 43 states and six provinces,” Tim said. “Of all the places we’ve been, we liked Galway, Ireland and Springwood the best.”

Springwood is in very good company with Galway. The Rice’s were at St. Mary’s College, an institution more than 100 years old, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

“We did consulting work for them for nine months,” he said. “We had a great time in Ireland. Northern Ireland has a Game-of-Thrones-feel. Lots of people take pictures of sheep. Their owners spray paint them in all kinds of colors. It looks weird when it rains and the colors run.”

Tim’s been coaching basketball since he was 20 and helped coach a team in Galway. He’s originally from Robertsdale, Alabama and is glad to be back among familiar faces. He ran cross country at Mobile College and earned a doctoral degree from the U.S. Sports Academy.

Candy is from Minnesota. Tim kids her that he’s gotten her used to saying “y’all,” but she needs to get in the habit of saying “fixin’ to” be a true southerner.

Candy has a B.A. in theology, an MBA in leadership and a Ph.D in organizational leadership. She’s done lots of counseling over the years for small businesses and has helped a number of small businesses get started. One of her most enjoyable jobs was in 1997. She taught elderly people how to use the internet when it was just getting started. Like Tim, she’d done some coaching along the way.

“Springwood and St. Mary’s College have many similarities,” Tim said. “God called us here through Rick. We’ve been all over the place. Candy’s counseling ranges from marketing to social media. She helps business owners step back, consider the important things and become reenergized. She’s made web sites for businesses.”

“We are where God wants us to be,” Tim adds. “We are fortunate to work with Rick Johnson. He has a vision for where he wants Springwood to be and has a passion for it.”

Candy said that Springwood is a great place and is advancing to higher levels of community involvement.

“We will be helping them to start an online diploma program,” she said. “We think this will be a big thing for the local community and will encourage people to move here.”

“Springwood is a wonderful place,” said Tim. “More people need to know about it.”