VISTA -- Jessica Antonio's smile beamed from ear-to-ear.

"Here is a magic trick we did," she said as she described photographs she recently snapped. "And here are my friends … and here is when my friend climbed up a tree and I took a picture of that."

For Jessica, trouncing around Vista taking photographs of her friends and other things -- trees and flowers, reflections in a hub cap and a field trip to the Birch Aquarium was "fun."

For the adults who organized the experience, it was an attempt to teach children about their community by using visual stimuli such as snapping photographs and creating displays.

Vista resident Winifred Meiser, who has overseen the "Through Children's Eyes" project in other cities, organized the program with the Vista Townsite Community Partnership.

She got together with the partnership, a nonprofit group that aims to improve the Townsite area, after presenting her ideas to Dena Fuentes, the city's redevelopment director.

Fuentes thought Townsite children could benefit from the project, Meiser said. The Townsite area is home to many lower-income neighborhoods.

"The idea is to use photography as an educational tool, not just getting a great picture," she said, adding that "what they learn about themselves on the way to taking the pictures" is what the project is all about.

Self-esteem, pride, accomplishment is what Through Children's Eyes hopes to teach, she said.

The display of photos, hung along the walls of the Townsite partnership's auditorium at 642 Vista Village Drive, was put together by the young photographers.

"You can see some of them are crooked," Meiser said, adding that it just adds to the display's charm and character.

Grace Vasquez, 10, is another picture-taker. She said she learned not only how to work a camera, but about everything she took a picture of, too.

"We learned about sharks, and whales, and that fish have gills," said Grace, referring to a trip the children took to Birch Aquarium in San Diego to take more pictures.

Through Children's Eye began as a volunteer outreach program in 1982. It became a nonprofit in 1984.

Meiser, who is retiring in Vista with her husband, is the project's director and founder. She is also a member of the Women in Photography International, a nonprofit outreach organization that promotes women photographers and their work.

For information, visit www.throughchildrenseyes.org.

Contact staff writer Jennifer Kabbany at (760) 631-6622 or jkabbany@nctimes.com.