FALLS VILLAGE - This week, educators from China came to tiny Housatonic Valley Regional High School so they could learn a few things about science and technology from Region One students.

That may seem counterintuitive. After all, news reports constantly trumpet the weaknesses of American students in the sciences and math and point out that Asian students leave their Western counterparts in the dust.

So Monday's visit by two professors from Ningxia Polytechnic University can be seen as a particularly exciting event, one that shows that American students — even students at a tiny rural high school— have plenty to contribute to the future of world technology.

The visit was arranged by Education Connection in Litchfield, which has created a division called the Center for 21st Century Skills, which in turn has created a program called The Connecticut Innovation Academy that now includes 30 high schools in the state, including Housatonic.

This year, Ningxia Polytech will be a long-distance partner in the Innovation Academy. Two professors (Professor Cheng Zhixin and Professor Ling Xudong) are visiting about a half dozen high schools and colleges that are teaching the academy curriculum. Even though Housatonic has only been part of the program for two years, it was selected as one of the exemplary schools for this weeks visit. Other schools included the University of New Haven, Oxford High School, Newtown High School and Central Connecticut State University.

The visit was a brief one, squeezed into a 70-minute block of time. It began, of course, with social niceties including the exchange of gifts. Art teacher Warren Prindle (who teaches the academy class, and was instrumental in bringing it to Housatonic) presented the Asian visitors with decorative tin boxes that he had painted (during his years as a professional artist) with scenes of New England life. The visitors brought green tea.

State Rep. Roberta Willis (D-64) also attended, and shared greetings from the state government, which has helped fund the Center for 21st Century Skills.

Then Prindle and his students got down to business, demonstrating the work they've done on a prototype for an educational computer game. The 13 juniors and seniors who signed up for the class have come up with everything from game concept to graphics and animation to background music. They have created a marketing strategy, advertisements and what Prindle referred to as "a white paper, which explains the project concept, the long-range plan and the particulars of its creation.

Only seven of the students had time to make their presentations before the class ended.

"That was disappointing," Prindle said. "But I must say the students all worked so hard and they came through with flying colors. I can't say enough about how impressive they were."

Social studies teacher Lisa Carter, who has visited China, was on hand to help translate. The group also brought a Chinese businessman from New Haven to help them all communicate. There were, of course, some cultural surprises. The Chinese noted that in their country, for example, male students are not allowed to wear their hair long. They were particularly impressed by the school's extensive agricultural education center. And of course they were intrigued by the size of the school.

"I believe that the school they teach at has 10,000 students," Prindle said. Housatonic has 560 students enrolled this year. The entire town of Falls Village has about 1,000 residents (that includes weekenders).

The teachers were also notably impressed by the Housatonic students, in particular by the creativity they brought to their work in science and technology.

"They were, I think, taken aback by the creative technological virtuosity of the kids," Prindle said. "The students had come up with an idea for a game, had worked together as a group to bring it to life and make it even more interesting than their initial concept. They collaborated well. But the creativity is what especially impressed the Chinese."

Those Housatonic students who did not get a chance to do their presentations to the Chinese visitors will have another opportunity to show what they've done. In May, all 20 schools that took part in the academy will meet at the Connecticut High School Innovation Exposition in Hartford. Representatives from IBM, Apple and other technology giants will be there and they will be looking for projects to buy and develop.

"A group of students from Waterbury sold an idea to MIT for online textbooks at one of the last expos," Prindle said.

Students who participated in the class are Ben Arel, Erik Bergdahl, Ethan Edholm, Aaron Freund, James Leonard, Campbell McLaughlin, David Moore, Stan Posdnyakov, Julia Tao, Alex Tregaskis, Stacey Turbessi, Jessica Jacobs and Emily Van Valkenburg.