MANSFIELD - For most people, spring break means beaches, boards and bikinis. But for a group of Mansfield High students, it will mean hard work for a good cause.

A group of 24 students and four adults will depart Sunday for the Gulf Coast, where they will spend their April school vacation assisting with the ongoing recovery efforts there in the wake of Hurricane Katrina 2 years ago.

In February, 16 other Mansfield High students did the same thing over their winter break.

The trips have been coordinated by Kathy Litchfield, an English teacher and assistant swim coach at MHS who brought the idea to her students after discussing it with a friend who is working there.

"There was so much interest," she said. "It was originally going to be an April trip, but there were so many kids that I decided to split it in two." The group of 11th and 12th graders will fly into New Orleans, then travel to work at Camp Coastal Outpost, in Kiln, Miss., a town of about 2,000 people.

An NBC News reporter said Camp Coastal "has the look of an Army MASH unit, with its rough-hewn bunkhouses, dining tents and makeshift showers."

The volunteers will be assigned various tasks based on their skills.

One of the students heading to the Gulf next week, MHS senior Drew Rumbel, said residents of the Gulf Coast still need help, even though Katrina's impact has fallen out of the headlines.

"What people don't realize is, while we complain about the harshness of winter, there are people in Mississippi who have lost it all from Katrina, and have been suffering an endless battle to find shelter and take care of their families," he said.

But community service isn't cheap.

The total cost of the two trips is about $36,000, and the students have been fundraising to defray the cost through bake sales, can drives and even a school carnival.

Sam Wisel, another senior going on next week's trip, said the fundraising efforts have made the challenge of the trip more rewarding, and he expects the experience to be "life-changing."

"The biggest part of this trip for us, the students and teachers who are volunteering, is that we are helping contribute to our society and being good citizens through helping those who need it the most," he said.

Litchfield said she is proud of her students and impressed by their dedication and commitment. "It is a really, really good group of kids, and they're working really hard to come down together and support each other," she said. "That's really good to see from a group of 16-year-olds who would rather be out with their friends on a Saturday night."

Donations to the trip can be mailed to the school, c/o Katherine Litchfield/Katrina Trip, 250 East St., Mansfield, MA 02048.