The Rise From The Flashes: A Kids Photography Project of Healing, Hope, and Resilience
When the Eaton Canyon Fire took the Aveson School of Leaders campus from our TK-5th grade students in January 2025, it stole more than buildings and playgrounds. It swept away the familiar rhythms of childhood—morning circles, favorite reading corners, and the everyday magic that makes school feel like home. Some students lost their houses too, compounding grief upon grief. Yet from these ashes, our Phoenix community is proving its name.
The Rise From the Flashes project emerged as a beacon of hope through the vision of mindful photography advocate Byron Flitsch (author of Snap Happy: Mindful Photography for Kids) and veteran educator Amelia Weinstock. With support from the Greater Los Angeles Foundation, they placed 35mm disposable cameras in our 5th graders' hands, inviting students to document their journey forward with just 24 precious exposures each.
This limitation was intentional. Without digital distractions or endless retakes, students learned to slow down, tune into their emotions, and shoot with purpose. With each click, students framed the beauty and resilience of nature, and themselves. Art is healing a process, a way to name their feelings and gain some perspective on their shared experiences.
This wasn't just about taking pictures. It was about seeing clearly—feeling deeply. The students learned to find light in the shadows, both in their images and in themselves.
-Byron Flitsch, Project Leader
Through viewfinders, our 5th graders discovered that resilience has many faces: a friend's smile, morning light through a temporary classroom window, and a flower pushing through scorched earth. One 5th grader reflected, "I didn't know how to explain how I felt. But when I saw my photos, I thought—that's it. That's what it looked like inside my head."
The project extends beyond photography, too. In class, students gave voice to their experiences by writing odes and personal narratives that are shared alongside their photos in the book. Their reflections are so vivid and authentic that one might easily mistake them for the work of much older students.
The Mountain Spark
By Max
The skies are orange
The fire is bright
The mountain says goodbyes
It’s not in sight
We see it in our heart
It begins to start
The embers keep flying
And evil isn’t dying
The fire means no harm
It looks to survive
Like the air in our lungs
It needs to thrive
The mountain is safe
We’ve been so strong
As green grows around
Life starts a song
This project perfectly embodies the Aveson Way: using creativity to transform tragedy into connection, healing, and hope. It showcases everything that defines our unique charter school—student voice and agency, deep self-reflection, creative expression, and the guidance of exceptional teachers who know our students as individuals.
The Rise From the Flashes project will continue to make an impact by bringing art, and its healing powers, to our greater community. There are multiple ways to engage with this project over the coming months:
Purchase your own copy of Rise From the Ashes. A limited-edition bound and beautiful photo book is available for purchase here.
Visit our gallery exhibition! This fall, an in-person gallery exhibition will showcase ASL’s photos and odes. To get updates on this event, sign up for our project newsletter at the bottom of the photo gallery.
Host a project at your school. The Rise From the Flashes project is designed to bring healing frameworks to schools across Southern California and beyond. Schools interested in hosting the project can connect directly with Byron Flitsch here.
Kudos to our brave students and teachers who have proven that even from loss, we can create something beautiful, meaningful, and healing.
About Aveson Schools
Since 2007, Aveson Schools have been nurturing the curiosity and potential of TK-12th
grade students with a tuition-free transformative education. Aveson School of Leaders (TK-5) and Aveson Global Leadership Academy (6th-12th), provide boundless opportunities for students to discover their passions through award-winning arts instruction, experiential learning, preparation for college and global travel opportunities in a welcoming and inclusive school community in Pasadena. Get to know Aveson on social media @avesonschools and on the web at www.aveson.org. A School of Possibilities.