Around Broadneck: 41 from Broadneck help rebuild hurricane-stricken Louisiana

Near the end of a daylong drive from New Orleans to Broadneck High School, a caravan of four passenger vans got stuck in Beltway traffic.

As each van finally pulled up in the school parking lot on June 26, an explosion of upbeat, singing teenagers tumbled out. Waiting was a small crowd of family members.

Barking with joy, Phelps, a year-old puppy, bounded to greet his owner, John Williams, a Health and Physical Education instructor and basketball coach at Broadneck.

The group had been gone 10 days. They spent a week as volunteers in the New Orleans area, in St. Tammany Parish, working on home construction projects for...