By Karen Gutierrez
Enquirer staff writer

INDEPENDENCE - Incoming sixth-graders got some welcome news this week: The lockers at Twenhofel Middle School are way too small for human bodies.

This means nobody will be trying to stuff them inside.

"We can't fit in the lockers. They're like, this big," said 11-year-old Sara Lambert, holding her hands a foot apart.

For four days this week, Sara and 30 classmates attended an orientation camp at Twenhofel.

They played get-acquainted games, went on a scavenger hunt and watched a police dog sniff for drugs. They got advice on peer pressure. They read books. And they ate banana splits after learning how ice cream is made.

Best of all, they stopped worrying so much about middle school, which starts Aug. 24 in Kenton County.

"I feel sorry for the people who didn't come. It's fun here," said Maranda Phelps, 11.

"I made, like, five new friends," said Glenn Pryor, 11.

Twenhofel's Youth Service Center, directed by Terri Barnes-Marti, received a grant to do the camp. Students were invited based on recommendations from their elementary schools.

"I have great things to say," said parent Robin Chadwick, whose son, Zachary, was a participant.

Chadwick and her husband grew up in Northern Kentucky but had been living in California. Now they're moving back.

"We actually moved here early so he could be part of this program," Chadwick said.

On the first day, Zachary met up with another boy who appears to be his clone, she said.

Now he's ready to start the year. And 30 other young people can't wait to get their lockers.

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E-mail kgutierrez@enquirer.com