By Bill Hafer/Daily Sun staff writer

In approaching the sixth grade north area at Beatrice Middle School, a line of backpacks runs down the center of the hall floor and around the corner to a room full of sixth graders, full of energy and ready to lend a hand.

And that's exactly what was going on. The backpacks in the hall, 50 total, would soon be packed with binders, paper, pens and pencils and shipped to Picayune, Miss., where they are expected to arrive in time for school to start for students there on Monday.

This is just one example of the ways students in Beatrice Public Schools have stepped forward to try to help their counterparts in areas hit by Hurricane Katrina.