ADAMS TWP — Middle schoolers who are new to the Mars School District this year can participate in a fun activity that is meant to help assimilate new students.

Middle school guidance counselor Tanis Rose and the district pupil services director Anna Saker came up with the idea for a scavenger hunt at the middle school for seventh- and eighth-graders who are new to the district.

Rose said she already has 17 new students who have said they will attend the event, and 16 who may come.

She explained that new students and their parents will come to the middle school at 6 p. m. Tuesday, where they will meet with Rose and principal Dale Sleva to learn about the district and school.

While Sleva and Rose are holding a question-and-answer session with the parents, the new students will be divided into groups that are led by a middle school student.

The groups will engage in a scavenger hunt by finding clues placed throughout the building. Rose said each clue is in the form of a short poem, like “If you feel like throwing up, or have a pounding head, this is where you go to get some rest or some meds.”

A directive hidden in the nurse’s office would instruct the new students to share a piece of information, like “Name something fun you did this summer.”

Another clue would direct the group to the next area in the middle school, where another directive would be found.

“It’s an opportunity for them to meet Mr. Sleva and I,” said Rose, “and to meet other new students.”

She said the event will also tell new students what it’s like to be a student at the middle school, instead of the current students just walking them around and pointing out rooms.

Being led through the activity by a Mars student also provides the new students with a familiar face when school starts on Sept. 1.

“It’s kind of an ice breaker,” Rose said.

Sleva said the scavenger hunt is a great way to show the seventh- and eighth-graders that they are not the only new student at the middle school.

“It could relieve anxiety for kids moving in from another district, and make them feel more at ease,” Sleva said.

Each new student who attends the scavenger hunt will receive one raffle ticket for a basket of Mars School District items.

The regular orientation for all incoming seventh-graders will be Wednesday, and Rose said the new students are welcome to attend that event and walk around and find their classrooms.

“Many of them are coming from out of state, and some from our Catholic schools or different districts,” Rose said of the new students. “We wanted to give them an opportunity to learn about the district and middle school in a fun way, and meet Mr. Sleva and myself.”