Officer Chris Kopas of the Adams Township Police Department talks with students at Mars Centennial School Tuesday during a school safety training assembly.

ADAMS TWP — Instead of locking the door and hiding, Mars students this week learned a more proactive approach to reacting to an active shooter in their school.

Fifth- and sixth-grade students at Mars Centennial School received ALICE training in a special assembly Tuesday afternoon. ALICE stands for alert, lockdown, inform, counter and evacuation and is the program now used by many law enforcement agencies to train civilians on how to respond to an active shooter.

The program was a refresher for the sixth-graders, who went through the training for the first time last year, said Principal Adam Kostewicz. They also do monthly, schoolwide unannounced lockdown drills for practice, he said.

“It almost makes the students feel like they're more in control,” Kostewicz said of the training.

Officer Conrad Pfeifer of the Middlesex Township Police said the old way to train students and staff to respond to an active shooter was to lock the doors and hide, which didn't always work because locks can be broken. A few years ago ALICE became the preferred system because it gave civilians a better way to react than hiding, he said.

All Mars administrators, teachers and staff are trained in the ALICE program.

“Mars is one of the most progressive schools in the county,” Pfeifer said in regard to training both staff and students in the ALICE program.

Representatives from the Adams and Middlesex township police departments, along with county and federal agencies, walked students through an informational presentation on ALICE principles before running through response scenarios with 10 student volunteers.

While each ALICE principle is important, officers said they do not need to be done in order. If there is a way out, then students can evacuate instead of locking the door. Students should also think for themselves and think strategically.

“We have to give you the tools to stay safe until we get here,” said Sgt. Ed Lenz of the Adams Township Police. “The national average response time is five to six minutes and usually these events are over in five to six minutes … When faced with danger, you must do something.”

Since evacuating is not always possible, officers walked students through how to block a door with a broken lock using a belt, phone cord or length of rope.

If that fails, students are supposed to counter or distract the intruder by any means possible.

Countering doesn't mean fighting, but it may mean throwing books, shoes, staplers or anything to distract the intruder and create a diversion. During the simulation with student volunteers, it meant throwing rolls of toilet paper at the active shooter played by one of the officers.

They also taught students how, as a last resort, they could try to overpower the shooter and what to do with a gun or weapon should the shooter drop it. Students are to put the weapon in a trash can and give it to police.

“This is the time we negate all the rules,” said Officer Chris Kopas with Adams Township Police. “Do whatever you need to do to protect yourself, to save yourself.”