Dalton-Whitfield County, GA (February 26, 2025) –Allyson Coker
Believe Greater Dalton was one of 10 community organizations to win an inaugural Georgia Reads Community Award and a $25,000 literacy grant on Tuesday at “Georgia Reads Day” at the State Capitol. The event was hosted by the Georgia Council on Literacy, the Georgia Municipal Association, Georgia Forward, and the Share the Magic Foundation.
At the event, Georgia Reads recognized 10 communities across the state that represent community partnerships who, over the last three to five years, set goals for literacy improvements and made proven progress meeting these goals. In addition to the statewide recognition of local efforts, award winners were provided with $25,000 to bolster literacy initiatives, and each community will participate in a Reading Rally led by Malcolm Mitchell, CEO & Founder of the Share the Magic Foundation, who also serves as the Georgia Reads Coach.
With over 60 applicants, the awards were extremely competitive and Believe Greater Dalton was thrilled to be a winner along with Ben Hill School District, Black Child Development Institute-Atlanta, Charlton County Board of Education, Cobb Collaborative, Inc., Dooly County Schools, Lamar County School System, Marietta City Schools, Read Source & Purpose-Built Schools of Atlanta, and RISE Augusta.
As the community’s strategic planning initiative through the Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce, education is one of six strategic priorities for Believe Greater Dalton focused on enhancing our appeal as a community to families by steadily improving outcomes for students. An objective of the education strategy is improving outcomes in 3rd grade reading proficiency and college and career readiness which is why Believe Greater Dalton was the applicant on behalf of all the great, collaborative work taking place across Dalton and Whitfield County.
Our local partnership represents collaborative efforts between Dalton Public Schools and Whitfield County Schools and their “Dalton Reads” and “One Whitfield Reads” campaigns that are supported throughout the community by the Early Childhood Initiative of Northwest Georgia, Dalton State College and Georgia Northwestern Technical College, United Way of Northwest Georgia, the Dalton-Whitfield County Public Library, Dalton-Whitfield Family Connections, healthcare professionals from Hamilton Medical Center and the Anna Shaw Children’s Institute, local childcare centers, various faith-based and nonprofit organizations and governmental agencies vital to serving our youngest learners. These collaborative efforts are working to ensure that all children in Greater Dalton have a vibrant, healthy, and sustainable future that begins with their ability to read at a proficient level.
“Believe Greater Dalton was honored to be the Georgia Reads Community Award applicant on behalf of all the outstanding work taking place across Dalton-Whitfield County supporting our youngest learners. We believe that because we have this collaborative, strategic planning initiative that included superintendents from Dalton Public and Whitfield County Schools, Dalton and Whitfield County government leadership and elected officials, representatives from business and floor covering industry and various nonprofit and community leaders as an integral part of the committee that defined the objectives and outcomes our community would measure helped our application stand out among the many others that were submitted.
This award is not only a recognition of all the efforts that have taken place over the past several years, but also a sign of our commitment as a community to continued improvement in our literacy outcomes recognizing it is the foundation for lifelong success,” said Allyson Coker, Executive Director of Believe Greater Dalton.