While thousands of college students headed for warm climate to enjoy sun and fun during their week off from classes, seven local students had other plans.

    The Northern Essex Community College (NECC) students and one of their teachers spent part of their spring break in New York City, helping repair an area____ (destroy) by the hurricane.

    “I wanted to see for myself what happened,” said Terry. “I couldn't imagine____it is like to lose your home and everything that you know and the____(power) effect the hurricane had on those people. I wanted to do something, to understand their feeling of helplessness.”

    The group headed into Brooklyn's Red Hook district, which was hit hard by the hurricane. There they met people from other parts of the country,____had also volunteered to help. Together, those volunteers and the NECC students____(work) to clear rubbish out of a three-story building. They put on protective suits and gloves____they entered the building.

    Inside the building, the students saw nothing but broken walls and doors and pieces of the building ____(lie) all over the place.

    The students returned to school with____sense of achievement, a feeling that____helped people in need. I was remarkable how a community lost so much and was still able to recover, and this left the deepest impression____the students.