The students, mostly members of New Hope Baptist Church congregation, were participating in the "World Changers" program sponsored by the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.

The students first came to an old Victorian home at East Main and Lansing streets last November. They tore asphalt siding off the house's exterior and then turned over the interior to electricians, plumbers and other construction experts.

With much of that work accomplished, the students have returned to scrape and paint walls. When the house - which was purchased by the nonprofit Neighbors of Watertown at a tax auction - is finished, it will be sold to a first-time home buyer.

"We're trying to fix a house up so people that don't have enough to buy a house can have one," said Brittney M. Bailey, 13, a student at Indian River Middle School. "We're helping someone that doesn't have as much as somebody else be able to afford a new house."

The Rev. Stan A. Gillcash, pastor of New Hope Baptist, said the World Changers program is designed to teach youths and adults they need to give back to the community.

"We want to teach youths to not take all the time; to learn to give," the Rev. Mr. Gillcash said.

The north side work is a prelude to a larger World Changers project that will take place in the city July 29 to Aug. 2. That week, 280 youths from across the country will come to Watertown and help rehabilitate 12 homes, mostly in the area of what is now being called the Near East Side Neighborhood Improvement District (NESNID).

The work will take place at several houses on Central, Bronson and Emerson streets, as well as individual projects elsewhere in the district, including NOW's proposed Emerson Place apartment restoration. Repairs will such things as construction of a wheelchair ramp, rebuilding a porch, exterior painting and roofing.

The projects were identified through a survey of owner-occupied homes conducted by Jefferson Community College students and is part of the NDC Housing Rehabilitation Program, made up of Neighbors of Watertown, the Development Authority of the North Country and the city.

The Rev. Mr. Gillcash said the youths will be housed and fed at JCC and will work 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. The youths, although volunteers, pay $245 to participate in the program. This summer, more than 25,000 youths will work at 71 sites identified worldwide as in need of World Changers aid.

For youths to participate in the worldwide program, they have to have completed at least sixth grade and have completed a local project, such as the students working on the East Main Street house are doing, the Rev. Mr. Gillcash said.

Some local workers have already completed other projects. Angel E. Vaughn, 17, a Watertown High School student, worked on a project last summer in Kingston, Ontario, while her brother, Warren J., 14, helped do electrical work on one in Canandaigua.

"It feels like you're helping someone by donating some time to fix up this house," Warren said.

"It feels like you accomplished a major goal," Angel said. "It's something you didn't know you could accomplish on your own, but you found out you could with a group of people."

Robert D. Reese, 15, a student at Indian River Central High School, said he has learned about home repair and working with his hands while doing the project.

"When you help people out, it makes you feel a little better," he said. "It turned out to be a lot of fun."

As parts of the group arriving this summer complete planned projects, members will be dispatched to other locations throughout the city to do repair and cleanup work at sites such as the Veterans Memorial Riverwalk, the Arsenal Street Cemetery and downtown.

World Changers and NESNID are trying to raise money to pay for food and work materials for the team. P.J. Simao, an owner of Dealmaker Auto Sales, 420 State St., said at Friday's NESNID meeting that he'd be willing to buy pizza for the World Changers volunteers during their first night in Watertown.

He also said he and other NESNID members should try to find other businesses willing to donate lunches to the group throughout the week.

"I can't believe a McDonald's or a Burger King wouldn't do this," he said. "It would be good corporate sponsorship."