Brite-Liter: a handheld solution to increasing literacy
BIG IDEA Spotlight: Brite-Liter
Editor’s Note: Designed to shine a spotlight on the variety of rural innovation bubbling up across the Pennsylvania Wilds, this article is part of a series that features six innovators who were named as finalists in the 2024 PA Wilds BIG IDEA Contest.
Did you know that 64 percent of fourth grade students in the United States failed to score proficient in reading? The number didn’t impact Benjamin Kranz until he sat down with his son’s teacher and she told him that she had concerns about his youngest son’s literacy. Instead of reading and comprehending what he had just read, his son was coping by memorizing stories and repeating them.
Reading with his son at bedtime was already a favorite activity for Kranz, a single dad living in Picture Rocks, Pennsylvania. So he decided to maximize the time with an innovation.
“I put together a flashlight and a laser pointer with electrical tape and rubber bands,” he remembers. “It lit up the whole page, and highlighted the exact spot that Zach had to read next.”
After a few weeks, Zach wanted to hold the tool himself to help him read new books. The next time Kranz met with Zach’s teacher, she was blown away by the amount of progress Zach was showing in class, and wanted to know the secret.
From that moment, the Brite-Liter was born. Today, the Brite-Liter has evolved beyond the first iteration of rubber bands and tape, but the tool is still refreshingly simple: it is a handheld device that combines a broad beam of white light with a pointer to trace letters, phonics or words in a printed book, creatively stimulating the visual cortex and maximizing retention.
“The best part is the pointer light inside the white beam,” Kranz said. “It can change colors, or change to six different shapes. Probably the most valuable feature we’ve added when it comes to literacy learning is what we’ll call a double jump key. It is a hot key that doubles the width of the highlight—it has been very helpful between letters and phonics.”
Today, ten prototypes of Brite-Liter are in user testing at youth development centers, and end-user homes. The next step is funding. An SBIR grant will allow the company to get the tool to its next iteration. They are also pursuing foundation and philanthropic support along with venture capital to help Brite-Liter open a brick and mortar location in Williamsport and begin working with school districts with the hope of offering services and tutoring at no cost to families.
“If we win a portion of the Big Idea contest, it would really advance the company itself and help us get to that next level,” Kranz said.
Kranz has worked as an entrepreneur before as an electrical contractor, but this project with the Brite-Liter is “so different” as he looks at the impact that the tool could make for students who struggle with reading. He says that it is especially impactful in his own community.
“Since we live in such a rural area, not everyone has access to electronics, wifi, or things of that nature… if I can create a tool that can reach them where they are, that they can use with any kind of printed material, I think it could be extremely helpful,” he said.
“I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to compete in the Big Idea contest,” he said. “It gave the company a challenge to rise up for, and forced us to explore some aspects of the business that we didn’t know we were ready for. It’s one more step toward bringing Brite-Liter into schools—and bedtime read alouds—around the country.”
Follow Brite-Liter’s path to the marketplace at www.brite-liter.com.
About the PA Wilds BIG IDEA Contest Series: The PA Wilds BIG IDEA Contests were part of a three-year initiative funded by the Appalachian Regional Commission. Made possible by a collaboration between Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and Northern PA, PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship, the Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program and Small Business Development Centers that serve the Pennsylvania Wilds, the contest took place annually, with each contest focusing on a different portion of the rural 13-county region and offering a chance to win up to $50,000. The 2022 contest included counties in the I-80 Frontier landscape, the 2023 contest included counties in the Allegheny National Forest & Surrounds and Elk Country landscapes, and the 2024 contest focused on counties in the Dark Skies and the Pine Creek Valley & PA Grand Canyon landscapes. After the three-year series concluded, more than $150,000 was invested in rural entrepreneurs, while participants who did not win cash prizes received invaluable technical assistance and business support. Additional details can be found at CNP.BenFranklin.org/BigIdea.
About Ben Franklin Technology Partners: The largest seed investor in our region, Ben Franklin Technology Partners (an initiative of the PA Department of Community & Economic Development and funded by the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority) has been providing investment capital, business support services, and operational assistance to emerging tech-startups and small manufacturers for nearly 40 years. Since the start of the BIG IDEA contests, more than $3 million in cash prizes have been awarded throughout Ben Franklin’s 32-county footprint in central and northern Pennsylvania. The contest offers start-ups and entrepreneurs some much-needed seed funding, as well as business training, pitch experience, and industry contacts – often more valuable than the prize money itself. Learn more at www.CNP.BenFranklin.org. For more information, contact Karly Scala at karlyscala@cnp.benfranklin.org.
About the PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship: The PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship, Inc., is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to integrate conservation and economic development in a way that inspires the communities of the Pennsylvania Wilds. The Pennsylvania Wilds is a 13-county region that includes the counties of Cameron, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Elk, Forest, Jefferson, Lycoming, McKean, Potter, Tioga, Warren, and northern Centre. The PA Wilds Center promotes the region and its 2+ million acres of public lands as a premier outdoor recreation destination as a way to diversify local economies, inspire stewardship, attract investment, retain population and improve quality of life. The PA Wilds Center’s core programs seek to help businesses leverage the PA Wilds brand and connect with new market opportunities, including: the Wilds Cooperative of PA, a network of more than 575 place-based businesses and organizations, and the PA Wilds Conservation Shop, a retail outlet primarily featuring products sourced from the WCO. For more information on the PA Wilds Center, visit www.PAWildsCenter.org. To learn more about the WCO, visit www.WildsCoPA.org. Explore the PA Wilds at www.PAWilds.com. Find regionally made products at www.ShopThePAWilds.com.
