The Rotary Club of Alpharetta completed a collaborative early-childhood literacy project designed to strengthen reading outcomes for children prior to third grade. The initiative provided children’s books for use with Kibeam Reading Wands and served as the proof of concept for a larger, scalable Global Grant pilot now advancing toward implementation.
The project purchased and deployed 400 children’s books supporting Kibeam-based reading instruction across local schools, childcare providers, and 501(c)(3) organizations , with an emphasis on after-school and community-based learning environments.
This effort was delivered through a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Rotary Club of Alpharetta and the YMCA of Greater Atlanta . Rotary members provided volunteer leadership, teacher support, and coordination of wand distribution. The YMCA coordinated directly with participating schools, identified eligible students within after-school programs, assisted with distribution, and supported Fulton County community assessments required for the Global Grant.
The Rotary Club of Alpharetta invested $25,000 and engaged 41 club members who contributed time, expertise, and leadership. The Rotary Club of Roswell contributed an additional $10,000 , with six members participating in project development and execution.
The project successfully validated a repeatable and scalable literacy delivery model , strengthened cross-sector partnerships, and generated key operational learnings related to training, logistics, and evaluation. These insights directly informed the design of the next-phase pilot.
The associated Rotary Global Grant has been accepted and authorized , with final approval pending. The anticipated $ 75,000 + grant will fund Kibeam Classroom Reading Kits , Libraries of books curated for grade appropriateness and will support all families participating in the YMCA Y-Afterschool program at specific schools. There is defined measurement and reporting to assess literacy outcomes.
This project represents the foundation of a scalable series of projects , intentionally designed for replication by Rotary clubs and districts across our District, Zone, and the broader Rotary world, with the goal of ensuring children can read to learn by third grade .