Inspiring Photo Earns Alexandria Student A National Award

ALEXANDRIA, VA—An Alexandria City Public Schools fourth-grader battling cancer has won a national award for her moving self portrait "Stronger."

Adelaide Flint, a student at George Mason Elementary School, submitted the photo into the PTA Reflections contest as she was undergoing treatment for cancer. She had been re-diagnosed with cancer in the summer and started chemotherapy and radiation during the school year.

But she took a tough situation and made it into something really spectacular. Not only did she end up being the Northern Virginia and state first place winner, she won a National Award of Merit.

The picture shows Flint looking into the mirror and holding her teddy bear. "I kinda thought of it as like a magic mirror, and if I looked in it, it would like show my future," she told ACPS's audio series VOICES.

Flint tries to inspire other cancer patients through her love of photography. She's also taken pictures of other patients at her clinic to show how different they can be.

Hundreds of thousands of students across the U.S. participate in the PTA Reflections contest through their schools' PTA groups. Students submit original works in the areas of dance choreography, film production, literature, music composition, photography and visual arts. The theme for Flint's submission in the 2017-18 school year. The theme for the 2018-19 school year will "Heroes Around Me."

Image courtesy ACPS