As schools displaced by flooding and storm damage return to their buildings, and the holiday volunteer buzz fades, communities hard hit by Sandy still face a long recovery. One student recently undertook a book drive to help an elementary school, and he collected over 400 books.

It was a frustrating and cold November in the Rockways, one of the areas of New York City hit hardest by Sandy’s storm surge. Thousands of residents in this coastal community were left without power or heat — and some are still waiting for service. One local teenager borrowed a camera from his high school and took on the assignment of documenting what life is really like on the peninsula post-Sandy.

An elementary school teacher sings the praises of his school community as it absorbed the repercussions from Sandy and prepared to return to its building in Rockaway Park, Queens.

One principal muses on the role school leaders and school buildings play in times of trauma. Even when faced with displacement and damage of their own, his teachers and staff have had to find the strength to lead their students through this difficult post-Sandy adjustment period.