BAYOU BLUE -- Cutting vinyl siding instead of limes and surrounded by insulation instead of parties, a group of Louisiana college students are spending their spring break working at Habitat for Humanity’s Angel Place subdivision on Bayou Blue Bypass Road this week.

(ABBY TABOR/NYTRNG)

Ryan Donegan, a business administration freshman at Nicholls State University, works on a Habitat for Humanity house Wednesday in Bayou Blue. Students from five Louisiana universities are spending their spring break building houses.

Clad in muddy work boots and tool belts, more than 70 students from Grambling State University, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Baton Rouge Community College, Nicholls State University and Southeastern Louisiana University opted to forego a week of spring-time leisure to participate in the University of Louisiana System’s "X-treme Spring Break" program, now in its second year.

The program, hosted by Nicholls this year, was established in 2006 to get students involved in the widespread effort to rebuild the state after hurricanes Katrina and Rita left thousands of Louisiana residents homeless or displaced.

Nicholls senior David Vicknair, 21, was one of seven Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity brothers to sign up for the program, which aims to help Habitat for Humanity and Americorps volunteers who have been on the job site for months.

Just before noon Wednesday, Vicknair and two of his fraternity brothers, Kal Savoie and Ryan Donnegan, were nailing siding to the frame of a house in progress. The image is not exactly the popular perception of frat guys on spring break.

Rather than lounging on the beach or partying, the three Lafourche Parish natives said their time would be better spent helping out in Nicholls’ backyard.

"There’s no better way to spend your spring break than helping other people," said Donnegan, an 18-year-old freshman.

As far as what might be considered more typical college spring-break activities, the trio said they weren’t missing anything.

"We can do that any time," Vicknair said.

Besides, there are some practical benefits to helping out with the houses.

"It’s funny that we’re doing siding," Vicknair said. "I always wondered how you put it up … it’s simple."

Vicknair said he was surprised to find out that the Habitat houses aren’t given away for free. Successful applicants are signed up for a 20- to 30-year interest-free mortgage and must put 350 hours of "sweat equity," into their home.

"It’s kind of encouraging to know that they have to put something into it," added Savoie, a 21-year-old junior.

Most students agreed that the week spent on the houses didn’t feel like a sacrifice.

"I thought it would be a great experience for me, personally," said Smiles Thomas, a 21-year-old nursing student at Grambling.

Thomas said between 20 and 30 more of his fellow Tigers are expected to make the 220-mile trip to Nicholls to finish out the spring-break program after Wednesday’s funeral for former Grambling football coach Eddie Robinson concluded.

Though the volunteers earned accolades from a slew of educators and elected officials -- including state Sen. Reggie Dupre, D-Bourg, and Lafourche Parish Council member Mike Matherne -- students said the most-rewarding experience was meeting the families who would move into the homes they were building.

"You don’t realize how much a home means to a family," said Emelda Fountain, 33, a New Orleans native who lives in a new house on Bon Jovi Boulevard with her 78-year-old grandmother. Fountain added that being homeless "puts a weight on your heart and on your mind."

"We could never express to you how grateful we are and how thankful we are," Fountain told the students.

The subdivision, which will eventually number 78 homes, is funded partly by Oprah Winfrey’s Angel Network. Rock star Jon Bon Jovi and his band who paid for 28 homes through a $1 million donation, hence the street’s name.

Bon Jovi and other celebrity sponsors, like comedian Jimmy Fallon and actress Drew Barrymore, have all been spotted at different times strolling the streets of the new neighborhood, usually with little fanfare.

"She was a little bitty thing," resident Barbara Shanklin said of Barrymore.

Fountain said the platinum-selling New Jersey rocker impressed her.

"He was so nice when he came out here," Fountain said of Bon Jovi. "Really down to earth."

Though Fountain said she usually gets questions when she tells people her address, there are some advantages to living on a street named after a rock star.

"Nobody says 'How do you spell that?’ " Fountain said.