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Score another point for Team Kung Fu Panda.

Jerame Lam, 17, won prizes for two of his teammates Tuesday when he correctly named "a guidance counsellor" as the person who "helps me with choosing courses."

Like other groups of students new to Canada and gathered around tables Tuesday at A.Y. Jackson Secondary School in North York, the members of Kung Fu Panda answered such questions without much difficulty.

Similar scenes played out in 19 other Toronto secondary schools as part of a federally funded Newcomer Orientation Week, or NOW.

"Some questions in my mind were solved in this game," said Lam, who emigrated this summer from Hong Kong, but is looking forward to going to Grade 12 in North York, where, he said the air is fresh and there are more trees.

Earlier, newcomer students and peer leaders who had gone through the same program as an experiment at A.Y. Jackson last year travelled the hallways of the school with passports they had stamped at the gym, music room and other locations.

Students new to Canada carry more than the usual need to make friends and fit in, said Kevin Zhang, 17, a peer leader who came from Nanjing, China, five years ago.

"If you have problems, opening up in your new country is always hard," he said, "but once you open up you will find there are lots of people there to help you."

For newcomer students, getting more than the usual orientation is important, because many find navigating through a Canadian school frustrating and don't have friends who know where to go for help, said Ally Lui, whose agency CICS was funded to run NOW at A.Y. Jackson as part of the Settlement Workers in Schools program.

NOW also brings the newcomers to local libraries and community centres, so they can learn what's available there.

Before, the school had a newcomer's club to make things as comfortable as possible, but teacher Daniela Mendez said she saw a big difference last September in those students who went through the NOW program.

They looked comfortable, she said, "instead of sitting in the back corner, trying to be invisible."

NOW remains voluntary, but settlement workers strongly advise newcomer students to attend, Mendez said.

Judy Duan, 19, from Shangdong Province near Beijing, said the school system in China is quite different but others in the program are in the same situation, "so I won't feel that lonely."

Duan said she needs help understanding the TTC and solving everyday problems, such as where to get a health card.

She was pleased to discover guidance counsellors will help her change a course, find volunteer work for community service hours or even a part-time job, she added.