SPEARFISH - As many college students prepare for a relaxing spring break on a sunny beach in Mexico or at a hopping casino in Las Vegas, 15 raised money for a trip with a different kind of reward. These students and two advisers from Black Hills State University will make the world a greener place by traveling to Seattle for the fourth annual Alternative Spring Break.

The Community-University-Resource-Exchange office planned this year's trip to Seattle, where students will learn the importance of working to protect the environment. They will help restore salmon streams, plant native trees, remove invasive plants, restore wetlands and shorelines and build trails, all under the guidance of several nonprofit organizations in the area.

"I know Spearfish is an environmentally conscious area, and I thought it would be nice to incorporate that into the Alternative Spring Break this year," said Sarah Hanify, BHSU's AmeriCorps VISTA community-service coordinator.

Hanify began recruiting students for the trip in late October and finished just before winter break. Since then, the students have been raising funds for their excursion. To date, they have raised $6,300 in donations from local businesses, raffle drawings, change buckets and personal fundraising. The original out-of-pocket cost per student was $850. It is now down to $300, and Hanify hopes to bring that down even more as they continue to raise money.

The students leave for Seattle on March 15 and return to Spearfish March 22.

To some, it may seem like a lot of extra work leading up to a laboring spring break. While most students will be pitching their books for the week and taking it easy, these 15 students will volunteer in a community most have never seen.

"I wanted to do something useful, something interesting for spring break this year," said Heather Thompson, a junior mass-communications major from Rapid City.

"We won't be drinking and partying like most other students. We will actually be giving back to the environment."

The trip will initially help the environment around Seattle, Hanify said, "but I'm hoping the students can bring back what they've learned and use it to help this area."

After returning, the students plan to speak at local schools about the environment and give presentations on campus and for the organizations that have helped them raise money.

Despite the heavy labor, the alternative spring break won't be all work and no play. For many, it's also a chance to travel somewhere new and take in some sightseeing along the way. They plan to experience some of Seattle's attractions including the Space Needle and Pike Place Fish Market.

"This will be my first time on an airplane and my first time traveling out of the Midwest," freshman Mindy Cain, an accounting major from Sioux Falls, said.

"It really is an entirely different atmosphere," Hanify said. "You do these things and you give up yourself to help others. It's really exhausting but really fulfilling at the end of the day."