The story of our
lightbulb moment.

Flashlight Learning grew out of a project designed to give teachers a way to better understand their students’ speaking and writing development — while creating frequent opportunities for intentional practice and feedback.

Emma Sanchez, retired Executive Director for English Learners in Chula Vista Elementary School District, and Zulema Reynoso, PhD candidate at San Diego State University, were working with local school districts to build a model to promote productive language using free resources and paper and pencil. The process was working, but was taking far too long.

It was at this moment that Emma shared her success with Justin Hewett, long-time friend and former Imagine Learning executive. The next day, Emma, Zulema, and Justin met via zoom and began sketching out a technology platform that could automate the process.

After meeting with teachers and leaders who serve Multilingual Learners in districts all over the country, they felt like they understood the problem they were trying to solve. With their feedback, the program continued to evolve. Speaking and writing goals were developed, custom prompts were added, and the image library has grown to cover content and grade level standards.

Today, teachers all over the country are using Flashlight360 to give their students a platform to showcase what they can do and receive the feedback they need to thrive in the classroom and beyond.