Youth Service

The Rotary Club of Healdsburg has an active Youth Services Committee that works to
support children from infancy through college or continuing technical education. Here’s
a quick overview of how we serve the community.

Early Childhood Education
YWCA Healdsburg Childcare Program. YWCA Sonoma County provides high-quality,
affordable childcare and is the only pre-school program available for infants in
Healdsburg. Our Club recently made our largest financial grant ever to underwrite their
outdoor play equipment.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library works with partner
organizations across the country to mail free books every month to children from birth
through age five. Our Club promotes the Imagination Library in our area and performs
outreach to connect with young families and enroll them in the program. We also
provide financial support so that these families receive their books free of charge.
Through these efforts, we have continued to grow the number of area families who are
receiving books.

Elementary Education

Healdsburg Elementary School. Members of our Club helped young readers improve
their literacy by participating in the weekly Reading Buddies program at Healdsburg
Elementary School.

Fitch Mountain School. The Rotary Club of Healdsburg increased our annual financial
support to include the “One School, One Book” schoolwide reading initiative and the
Fifth Grade Science Camp.

Geyserville Elementary School. Our Club provides free copies of the National
Geographic book Why? for all third-grade students.

Junior High School. AAUW Tech Trek program. Tech Trek is a week-long STEM (Science, Technology,
Engineering, Mathematics) camp for middle-school girls who will be entering the Eighth
Grade. The Rotary Club of Healdsburg provides financial support to pay for three local
middle school girls to attend the Tech Trek STEM camp at Sonoma State University and
the University of California Santa Cruz.

High School

Interact Club. The Interact Club is a service club at Healdsburg High School that
focuses on developing leadership skills through community and international service
projects. We co-sponsor this Club with the Rotary Club of Healdsburg Sunrise. We
assist the students in designing and implementing their own projects and encourage
their participation in our Club’s environmental and community initiatives.

RYLA. Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) is an intensive leadership experience
organized by Rotary clubs and districts where high school students develop their
leadership skills while having fun and making connections. For our District, RYLA is a
week-long residence at Westminster Woods in Occidental. Every year we provide
financial support to sponsor high school students to attend this exciting and valuable
program.

College and Continuing Technical Education

Over the past 22 years, the Rotary Club of Healdsburg has provided more than
$750,000 in scholarships to graduates of Healdsburg High School and Geyserville New
Tech Academy. In 2025 alone, we awarded more than $100,000 in new and renewed
scholarships.

College Scholarship Program. In today’s fast-moving and increasingly technological
world, a college education can be more important – and more expensive – than ever.
The Rotary Club of Healdsburg College Scholarship is a multi-year $25,0000
scholarship awarded to qualifying students who are planning to attend a 4-year college
or university upon graduation from high school. Recipients of the scholarship are also
paired with a mentor in their chosen field for academic and professional guidance.

Technical Education Scholarship Program. College is not the right path for everyone.
And there are many important, satisfying, and well-paying careers that don’t require a
college education – but do require some kind of additional technical or vocational
training after high school. The Rotary Club of Healdsburg Technical Education
Scholarship supports students pursuing technical or vocational training or a certificate
program in lieu of a two-year or four-year college degree.

In 2025 we awarded Technical Education Scholarships to five graduating seniors who
are pursuing careers as a medical sonographer, electrician, veterinary technician, and
skilled construction workers.