GRAHAM --At Alamance Christian School, there are students who had never really seen the moon or stars until recently. They did not know what a blue sky truly was.

"They were like oh, the sky is blue, we know that, but man we can see it,"said Shelly Fincannon, a math and science teacher at ACS who has all of these kids in her biology class.

This year, Alamance Christian has brought in seven exchange students, most of them from China, where, they say, the skies are hazy and covered with smog in many parts.

Jan Schnieder, 17, is from Germany; Tonje Saether, 17, is from Norway; Won Joong Jung, 15, is from South Korea; and Sicong Li, Zeyang Xie and Yansheng Zheng and Zihao Huang, all 17, are from China.

It is the second year ACS has provided a cultural experience to foreign students through the American Scandinavian Student Exchange Program, which is now a worldwide organization.

Students take a hybrid schedule that combines courses from different grade levels to focus on America, like U.S. history and U.S. government. They are graded the same and carry similar expectations from the school, with a strict disciplinary policy from ASSE.

Some of these students hope to be accepted into an American university after they graduate high school in their home countries. Sicong hopes to study engineering in New York.

"I am not interested in learning literature or other parts,"he said.

In his down time, he likes playing basketball, which is very popular in China. Otherwise, he spends time with Fincannon's family, with whom he lives. On Sundays, he goes with the family to church and experiences a level of religious freedom that China often lacks.

The whole family chips in to help Sicong adjust and cope with his school work.

When Sicong and Fincannon's 15-year-old son are not playing basketball, they are working on a book report. Fincannon's husband, who used to be a history teacher, helps Sicong with this subject.

"We know that he can use our help so we offer it,"Fincannon said. "Other kids don't understand how hard they work."

In return, her family can learn to appreciate another country and its customs in their own home.

"We want our family to be exposed to other cultures,"she said. "It is an opportunity to reach out and give someone the advantage we have always known."

The school feels the same way. Students can learn about a foreign country and culture through an actual person they can relate to, while the school benefits financially and fulfills part of its Christian mission.

"It gives us the ability to share our faith,"said Daniel Freeman, an administrator at ACS, who spearheaded this program. "Some of these kids have never heard anything about a bible. They have never seen a bible."

In class, Fincannon has no complaints, either.

"It's working well,"she said.

Most of them will have to repeat the year when they go home because the curriculums do not always match.

"They are here with a goal that is to get into an American university,"Fincannon said, referring more to the Chinese students. "Over there, they work their tails off and still can't be assured of anything."