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.

"This is a community service project. We spend a lot of time in class learning academics, here we have a situation where we can take the Character Counts! pillars and put them in action by helping others," said Randy Schlueter, BMS principal.

The middle school project began with two sixth grade classes that wanted to do something to help the hurricane victims, said Karen Dittbrenner, sixth grade math teacher.

"One class collected donations and one class held two bake sales," she said.

Schlueter said that while those classes led the efforts, the whole school participated, and the efforts raised $2,000.

Once the project was underway, Dittbrenner said she contacted school officials in Picayune.

"I asked what they needed," she said. "They requested backpacks, binders and basic school supplies."

With discounts and donations from Wal-Mart, Pamida and Alco, supplies were purchased. Then on Friday, the students packed each backpack and took them to the City Auditorium where Main Street Beatrice had made arrangements to ship them to Picayune.

In addition to the school supplies, Dittbrenner said they had enough money to buy clothes - 24 shirts, seven pairs of girl's pants and 25 pairs of guy's pants - for the students at Picayune's junior high as well.

"We'll give them a week, then we may do it again," she said.

Dittbrenner said the school may see a large influx of students from other districts who have no school now.

To make the gift more personal, Schlueter said the students also made banners with pictures of students at the middle school, both in class and in groups, that will be sent with the supplies.

The middle school project is the latest, but efforts to help Beatrice's sister city have also been conducted at the elementary and high school levels.

Stoddard and Paddock Lane elementary principal Betty Replogle said all four of BPS' elementary schools participated in a drive to collect supplies that elementary students in Picayune might need.

"We had a wonderful turnout at all four buildings," she said.

Those items, including diapers, tooth brushes, coloring books and snacks, all things the students could relate to, were shipped out a week ago, Replogle said.

"Children have the wonderful ability to understand when other children need help," she said. "Maybe they don't understand the devastation that was caused, but they can understand that some children don't have toothpaste or food snacks. They can relate to that."

At Beatrice High School, an effort to raise funds and collect supplies resulted in a total of $500 being raised and a large amount of paper products and other supplies including hygiene supplies, paper plates and school supplies being collected and sent to help the hurricane victims.

"Our kids did a nice job with a short deadline," said Jason Sutter, BHS principal.

He said they will continue to monitor what the high school in Picayune might need to find other ways that they can continue to help.