When Cornell School District students return for classes next month, they will see a whiter white and a bluer blue, thanks to a bunch of Christian kids from Lititz, Lancaster County.

"I like that the kids are going to come in here and see what we did," Jon Romantic, 16, said, taking a break from painting a hallway in the Coraopolis school, which houses kindergarten through grade 12.

"Being a Christian is more than just bringing people to God; it's helping people in need," said Adriana Fetzeck, 15.

They were among 85 students from one church who were in town for Momentum Youth Conference 2009, a Christian conference at Robert Morris University attended by about 2,000 youths from churches nationwide.

They had morning and evening worship and classes at the university July 15 through last Friday, and had the option of spending their afternoons in group-building games at the university or doing volunteer work in the community.

On Saturday, all 2,000 were out in the community, working on organized projects or knocking on doors and asking to wash windows or do other chores.

"That's really a stretching experience for some of these kids," counselor Genna Antes said. "A lot of adults, I think, have learned that giving is really getting. But for today's teenagers, it's really good for them to get their hands dirty doing something for someone else."

Laura Jacobs, 16, said it was not too hard to give up the games in order to paint at a school.

"I'm not really into sports anyway," she said with a laugh. "It's more my thing to help other people."

Laura said she wanted to show "a servant's heart," but was getting an unexpected bonus: "I didn't realize it would be so much fun."

Indeed, the hallway was full of chatter along with the smell of paint last Thursday, with the teenagers working in little groups, some scrubbing walls, some taping off trim, and others following with rollers and pans of white paint.

The Cornell project was one of the largest, but other groups tackled projects in various places throughout the Western suburbs. The group also was collecting food, which was to be distributed Saturday to the needy in McKees Rocks.

Projects were determined in advance by conference organizers, who took requests from groups in the region. Sponsored by Indiana-based CE National, the Momentum conference is held in a different location each year, with the children taking on service projects wherever they go.

Two years ago, it was Gulfport, Miss., where they helped victims of Hurricane Katrina.

"Every day was different," Brad Steinweg, 17, said. "On our day, we stuck posts in the ground for new housing."

That project felt good, Brad said, because of the huge need, but the Cornell project had its points, too.

"It's inside, and it's cool," he said with a laugh.

Madelyn Bernhardt, 15, said that during last year's conference, near Dayton, Ohio, she did evangelism, approaching people in a park to spread the word.

She said painting the school was harder, more physical work, but "I wanted to help out the school."

"I'm sure they'll enjoy it when they come back to school," Seth Snyder, 17, said. "It will touch their hearts to know someone cares."

"I've been learning that the best way to show God's love is by serving," Brad said. "And to be a leader, you've got to serve first."