East Lyme - An eager audience of Chinese exchange students watched in amazement as fresh pizza dough, tossed by Recovery Room Chef Luigi Sferrazza, twirled high in the air to the lyrics "when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie that's amore."

Singer Tony Costa, of Ledyard, belted the classic Italian song Tuesday in the East Lyme Middle School culinary classroom as Sferrazza showed the international students of the Chinese Language and Culture Camp how to make a Margarita pizza.

The Chinese Language and Culture Camp, which originated in Burlington, Vt., through SPIRAL International, is a program which focuses on creating cultural and environmental learning experiences for international students. SPIRAL International Program Director and East Lyme High School teacher Jeff Drew said Superintendent of Schools James Lombardo brought the program from Vermont to East Lyme with hopes to expand international involvement in an affordable way.

"Right now, budgets are tight and this program is funded completely on grant money," Drew said. "We're trying to expand our global studies and this was a way to do it."

The 30 exchange students of the camp range from 12 to 14 years old and attend Kunming No. 10 Middle School, in southern China. Two teachers from their school also came along for the 12-day program, and serve as interpreters for the students when needed.

Each day, the children are taught by an English as a Second Language teacher from Central Connecticut State University, as well as teachers from East Lyme Middle School, East Lyme High School and Old Lyme High School. Drew said he created the itinerary to ensure that each lesson is followed by a related field trip to enhance their experience. The students received an English lesson on American food, cooking and kitchen tools on Tuesday, followed by a culinary demonstration by Recovery Room Chef Sferrazza and a taste of the popular Italian-American cuisine: pizza. Sferrazza also served the students Italian ice and Tortellacci Bolognese.

"I took the models they gave me and adapted it to this area," Drew said. "We don't live in Vermont, so we're not going to take them hiking. We're going to take them to the beach, and to the state capital, and just enjoy the things we have to offer here. A lot of these kids had never seen the beach before, so I had to show them how to play in the sand."

Chen Chen, 13, said America is better than he expected it to be, and that his favorite field trip so far was to the beach, where he said the seagulls are different from those in China; they are not afraid to come close.

In addition to allowing the students to experience American culture, Drew said the program also preps them for college, and sparks an interest to study in the U.S. in the future. He said East Lyme High School guidance counselor Michelle Dean taught the students a lesson on American universities and college education, explaining classes, credits and material, followed by tours of Eastern Connecticut State University and University of Connecticut. On top of daily English lessons and field trips across Connecticut, Drew said the students are also exposed to American culture at home, through their stay with host families from Waterford, East Lyme, Old Lyme and Salem.

"Finding host families was the hardest thing I ever had to do. I put ads in newsletter, hung up posters and even called people directly who were recommended to me," he said. "The families that stepped up are really amazing people, and it was really touching when families said they'd take an extra kid."

Drew said, so far, the students seem to be having a lot of fun, and have been experiencing some unique surprises and opportunities along the way. After the U.S. history lesson on Monday, Drew said he, Old Lyme High School teacher Emily Kelly and East Lyme Middle School teacher Jay Gionet brought the class to the Connecticut History Museum and the Connecticut State Capitol, where they unexpectedly ran into Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman.

"We told her who we were and what we were doing and asked if she would take a picture with us. It was great. I mean that was unplanned and awesome," he said.

Drew said he put a lot of time and research into creating the daily camp itinerary, hoping the children leave with the best impressions of their first visit to the United States, and come back to live and study in the area in the future. The camp plans to visit Clinton Crossing Outlets, downtown Mystic and the Mystic Aquarium this week.

"The theme I've been trying to push is small community," he said. "I thought, if I was coming from another country, what would I wanna see?"