MERIDIAN, Miss. (Queen City Newsfeed) – Illuminations, a Mississippi-based company specializing in educational technology for students with dyslexia, has been awarded a $125,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
The grant will fund the continued development of Vertical Take-Off (VTO) Reading, an AI-powered literacy platform designed to improve access to individualized reading support in rural and underserved communities.
The project — “Dyslexia Intervention and Individualized Emergent Reading Instruction for Rural Schools” (Accession No. 1033930) — will pilot VTO Reading in Mississippi, Alabama, and Michigan. The award also marks the first time a small business in Mississippi has received a USDA SBIR grant.
Illuminations is among a select group of small businesses nationwide chosen by USDA/NIFA under the SBIR program, which invests directly in private companies rather than universities to advance innovations that benefit rural communities and agriculture.
VTO Reading offers phoneme-level practice and real-time progress monitoring for struggling readers. The tool is built for low-bandwidth environments and integrates with structured literacy programs already used by teachers.
“This grant is a major step toward breaking down barriers to literacy for children in rural schools,” said Leta Palmiter, Ed.S., CALT, S.L.D.S., executive director of Illuminations. “With VTO Reading, we’re using AI to deliver individualized support — so geography or staffing limitations don’t determine a child’s reading future.”
During the Phase I project, the Illuminations team will develop a working prototype, gather weekly feedback from partner schools, and refine the platform’s usability and accuracy. The initiative aims to expand access to dyslexia support, improve reading fluency, and empower educators with data-driven insights.
Based in Meridian, Illuminations partners with families, schools, and communities to improve literacy outcomes through evidence-based instruction, technology, and educator training. More information is available at vtoreading.com
