JACKSON TWP — The Seneca Valley School District might be thousands of miles away from Russia, but that's not stopping hundreds of middle school students who still want to celebrate the Olympic Games in their own way.

Students will participate in a bevy of activities Wednesday to honor the games and to have a little fun themselves.

Kasey Kraus is an English teacher at the middle school and is overseeing the event.

She said the entire thing really has taken on a life of its own since students learned about the Olympics event, which will feature competitions in activities like chess, table tennis, speed skating, bobsledding, basketball, rowing and curling, among many others.

More than 300 eighth-grade students are slated to participate in the event, while 15 homeroom classes in the school each will represent a different country.

Some students have taken it upon themselves, Kraus said, to learn some of the language of the country they are representing.

However, it isn't just middle school teachers and students getting in on the act. Kraus said a high school teacher is making T-shirts with his own money to help the students better represent their countries.

“Even in my homeroom class I hear students speaking some fragments of Japanese,” Kraus said. “The whole thing is really expanding in a lot of other ways we hadn't anticipated.”

The actual event will only take place on Wednesday, with homeroom announcements in the morning meant to symbolize the opening ceremonies.

Students will compete throughout the day in the middle school gymnasium, which will also be the site of an awards show and closing ceremony.

Kraus said the event is sure to be popular among students because, as teenagers, they have boundless energy and look forward to activities outside the classroom.

But that doesn't mean they won't be learning at the same time.

“In looking at the Olympic Games, what do they tell you about human nature and the fact that we all come together and put aside our differences in the name of sport?” she said. “What does that say about us and human nature?”

It was interesting to find a proper balance between fun and education, the teacher said, but she's confident the two sides equal out each other.

“We wanted it to be something the kids could connect to, something that was meaningful to them,” Kraus said. “But we also knew that it was something that had to be fun.”

Countries represented include the United States, Russia, Japan, China, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, Australia, Sweden, Jamaica, Brazil, Argentina, Kenya and Poland.