By DIANE GASPER-O'BRIEN

dobrien@dailynews.net

Teachers sometimes arrange for visitors to their classrooms late in the school year to try to keep their students interested in school down the stretch before summer vacation.

It will be hard to top what Mary Toepfer came up with Monday, less than a week into the 2008-09 school year.

Toepfer, an interrelated teacher at Felten Middle School, brought to the school six foreign visitors in their early 20s.

They had met Toepfer's son, Anthony Glassman, this summer at the Maine Golf & Tennis Academy, part of "The Best Sports Camps" program in Belgrade, Maine.

And they are traveling the United States before heading home to their respective countries.

Glassman talked his newfound friends into visiting his city, and the group has been staying for the past week at the home of his mom and his stepdad, Tom Toepfer.

Mary Toepfer said it has been an enjoyable experience, in between numerous trips to the grocery store.

And she couldn't resist sharing the educational opportunity with her students, even if it did come on just the fourth day of school.

"The timing was such that it provided for an interesting kickoff for their eighth-grade year," said Toepfer, who team teaches with several Felten teachers and collaborated Monday's activities with some of Debbie Ermoian's social studies classes.

After Glassman introduced the group to the students, the youngsters found themselves in for some fun lessons in history, geography and culture.

Pablo Gomez from Spain talked how different the food is in America.

Lucas Lemoy from France talked about weather patterns in his country and the Eiffel Tower.

And a foursome from England introduced itself as Pete and Tom and Tom and Tom.

Neither Pete Girling nor any of his three buddies -- Tommy Dyer, Tom Love and Tom Wilson -- knew each other before this summer.

"Definitely a small world," said one of the Toms.

The students learned the favorite sport in the three countries is soccer, while cricket and rugby also are popular.

The 13- and 14-year-olds also got in their pop culture questions such as:

"Where did you get your shoes?"

"Do you get SpongeBob on TV?"

"Where did they shoot the movie, 'Harry Potter?' "

Smiles went across the audience when one of the girls asked the visitors where they go shopping.

"London is good shopping," Girling said.

The answer to the question "How much is a gallon of gas in your country?" was eye popping, even for the adults.

The visitors wrinkled their faces in thought, because they measure their liquids in liters.

"About $11 a gallon," one of the young men answered to gasps from the audience.

Those from England talked about their queen and their monarchy, and Gomez and Lemoy, who both speak fluent English, also spoke a little in their native languages for the audience.

The students laughed when the presenters were asked to talk a little about holidays.

"Well, we don't celebrate the Fourth of July," one offered.

Most of the men are college students traveling the country on their way back home, and like the Felten students, are gearing up for a new school year.

Girling works in the music industry.

"It's pretty cool to get to hang out with rock stars all day," he said.

On this day, Girling was somewhat of a celebrity himself.

"I think it provided for an interesting kickoff for their eighth-grade year," Toepfer said of her young students.

But, she admitted, she has enjoyed herself as well.

"This," she said, "has really been a wonderful experience."