Union College students spent a week in New Orleans helping victims of Hurricane Katrina. Here's who they helped and what they did. Locations are in northeastern New Orleans unless otherwise noted:
Vickie Pellecchia, 58, high school geometry teacher and administrator
Pellecchia lived for six years in a one-story home. The flood waters rose to 1 foot below her ceiling and settled for three weeks at the middle of her windows. The students cleared out the contents of her home and hauled them to the curb.
Julie Reed Bogan, 61, receptionist at a New Orleans law firm
Bogan's parents — her mother is 84, her father, 93 — lived in their house for
62 years. Her father refused to evacuate and, after flood waters forced him to the second floor, he was rescued by boat from the roof of a side porch, about
15 feet above ground. Students cleared out the contents of the two-story home and hauled them to the curb.
Benjamin Franklin High School
It was flooded with two feet of water. Of the 936 students who began school a week and a half before the hurricane, more than 500 have confirmed that they'll return when the school reopens Jan. 17. Students hauled athletic equipment, files and supplies out of the gymnasium, cleared out offices and salvaged shelves from the library, cleaned them and reassembled them in a second-floor lounge. They stocked shelves with books that survived the flooding.
Lusher Elementary School in southwestern New Orleans
The bottom floor was flooded. Of the 657 students who began school before the hurricane, about 460 are expected to return when school reopens Jan. 17. The students cleaned and painted seven classrooms.
Audubon Montessori School in southwestern New Orleans
It sustained roof and water damage. Of the 525 students in the school for pre-K through eighth grade, about 300 have applied to return when the school opens Jan. 3. The students cleaned out desks and lockers and painted the cafeteria.
Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in eastern New Orleans
Its sanctuary, family-life center, classrooms, offices and gymnasium were flooded with 8 feet of water. The students knocked down walls and hauled out debris.
Jay Ciaffa, 46, college professor of philosophy
After the hurricane, Ciaffa was laid off from his job at Xavier University in New Orleans because of uncertain future enrollment. The students helped Ciaffa cut up branches of a large tree that had fallen in his back yard. His home in central New Orleans was one of two in which the students stayed.
Joshua, 18, and Jonathan Myers, 24
The students helped the brothers remove debris from their uncle's two-story home in eastern New Orleans, which was flooded with 8 feet of water. The first floor was a nursery.
The Galloways (Rochelle, 36, and her mother and father, Druscilla, 68, and Roy,
69)
Rochelle is a fourth-grade teacher laid off from her job. Her one-story duplex was flooded to the ceiling. Her parents' two-story home next door was flooded to the ceiling. An unexplained fire later burned it to the water line. The students helped the Galloways clear debris from the daughter's home in eastern New Orleans. The parents have yet to be allowed back into their home.
Mary and Kenny Martin, 57 and 59, respectively
The Martins' one-story brick home in St. Barnard Parish, the first community east of New Orleans, was flooded by 15 feet of water. It did not recede for about three weeks. Mary was a chemistry teacher and head of the science department at a high school closed after the hurricane. She's working as a teacher near Baton Rouge. Kenny was the liaison between the New Orleans school district and sheriff's department. He was laid off after the storm. He's overseeing the refurbishment of Lusher Elementary School. The students removed the contents of the Martins' home, in which they'd lived for 25 years.