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Exchange student host families sought BOE updated By kate Hill Staff Writer
Greenheart Exchange, a non-profit international educational exchange organization, is seeking Cazenovia area volunteers to host foreign exchange students for the 2023-24 school year. One of three branches of the non-profit Greenheart International, Greenheart Exchange offers cultural exchange programs in the United States for people all around the world with the mission of promoting cultural understanding, academic development, environmental consciousness, and world peace. The organization annually provides over 900 exchange students from more than 60 countries the opportunity to study in local public high schools for a five-month semester or a ten-month academic high school year. This year, Greenheart has already placed one student, a 16-year-old boy from Ghana named Godfred, “Goddy,” at Cazenovia High School (CHS). He will be hosted by Jennifer Wardell and Tom Revelle of Cazenovia. “He is a drummer and hopes to become a lawyer or a journalist,” said Catherine Jeannin, a local Greenheart coordinator. CHS has three additional spots open for exchange students, but host families have yet to be secured for them. According to Jeannin, Greenheart has many students to choose from, and they must be placed by Aug. 29. “Imagine the kids waiting anxiously back home, waiting to hear if their dream to experience American life and culture will come true,” she said. “They’ve been waiting for well over a year.” In the past 13 years, Jeannin has placed over 150 students from around the globe into several Central New York school districts, including Cazenovia, Chittenango, Canastota, Oneida,
Vernon Verona Sherrill, Westmoreland, Fayetteville-Manlius, Fabius-Pompey, and Bishop Grimes. “The Cazenovia community has welcomed some amazing students from Japan, Bulgaria, the Gaza Strip, Spain, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Poland, Germany, South Korea, and Bolivia,” Jeannin said. Greenheart placed four students at CHS both this past school year and the previous school year. The 2022-2023 students were Medhat from Gaza Strip, Andy from Bulgaria, Reisa from Japan, and Julene from Spain. The 2021-2022 placements were Faham from Pakistan, Lobar from Uzbekistan, Sarec from Germany, and Kota from Japan. Jeannin said she works primarily with “grants students,” high school students who have received a scholarship to come to the US for 10 months. Two of the main student exchange scholarship programs are the Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) program and the KennedyLugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program. Established in 1992 under the FREEDOM Support Act, the FLEX program enables high school students from 21 countries across Europe, Eurasia, and Central Asia to live and study for an academic year in the US. The YES program, modeled after FLEX, was established following the events of Sept. 11, 2001, to build relationships and break down stereotypes between Americans and countries with significant Muslim populations. Applicants to both programs compete for scholarships through a rigorous, merit-based selection process. “Under the auspices of the State Department, American Councils for International Education sends us students from the FLEX and YES programs,” said Jeannin. “The objective is to establish better relations with coun-
on athletic field improvements By kate hill Staff writer
tries from the former Soviet Union and [with] Muslim majority countries, [respectively]. . . The students from FLEX and YES come here to learn about American democracy, the principles of a market economy, and how to help one’s community through volunteering. The students are required to volunteer a minimum of 40 hours, [but] many achieve 100plus. Many return to their home countries and become leaders in various ways. To be clear, all exchange students bring cultural diversity to our communities and teach us about the world beyond our shores. They are a gift to us all.” This year, Greenheart was allotted 53 YES students and it still needs to place 11. It was also allotted 86 FLEX students and it still needs to place 17, according to Jeannin. “Greenheart is one of a few placement or-
On Aug. 14, the Cazenovia Central School District Board of Education (BOE) received updates on the district’s ongoing and upcoming capital projects. BOE Facilities Committee Chair David Mehlbaum reported on the current capital project, which involves modifying the physical education, sports, and community facilities at the Emory Avenue Complex. As part of the project, both the BuckleyVolo Stadium field and the “upper field” behind the stadium are being transformed into multi-purpose, synthetic turf fields. Mehlbaum informed the board that right before the meeting, the facilities committee received a walking tour of the project site and an update on the progress. “It’s definitely coming along,” he said. “The upper field is, by schedule, ahead of the other field in terms of order of events.” Mehlbaum added that it was his understanding that the construction crew could begin laying the final surfaces on the upper field by the end of the week. “It sounds as if there will be some opportunity to be able to use that for practices and games, if necessary, this fall,” he said. “The lower field is offline for another year.” Superintendent Christopher DiFulvio stated that the news of the progress on the upper field could not have come at a better time. He explained that the district had not
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Greenheart Exchange is seeking volunteers in the Cazenovia Central School District to host foreign exchange students .
Manlius Cinema to present screening of Caz native’s second feature film By kate Hill Staff Writer
Cazenovia native Siobhan Fallon Hogan will present a local sneak peek of her latest film, “Shelter in Solitude,” at the Manlius Cinema in advance of its official release nationwide. The movie, which was filmed partly in Cazenovia, will premiere in Manlius on Sept. 6 and 7 and will be shown again on Sept. 8 and 9. Fallon Hogan, who is the film’s writer, producer, and star, will be at both premieres to introduce her work and talk to the audience following the screenings. Other members of the cast will also be in attendance. The Sept. 6 premiere will feature a formal red carpet and a step-and-repeat banner for photography. The second premiere will be much more casual with a step and repeat but no red carpet. As of Aug. 10, tickets were sold out for the 7 p.m. screenings on Sept. 6 and 7, but tickets were still available for the 5 p.m. showings on those days. Tickets were also available for the Sept. 8 and 9 showings. “We couldn’t do a full run due to contractual agreements, so we hope to be back after [the country-wide release],” said Fallon Hogan. “Shelter in Solitude” will officially premiere on Sept. 26 at the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville, Tennessee, and it will open across the country on Sept. 29. Directed by Vibeke Muasya, the film also stars Peter Macon (“The Orville”), Robert Patrick (“Terminator 2: Judgment Day”), and Dan Castellaneta (“The Simpsons”).
Described by Fallon Hogan as “an American, faith-filled, country western, prison love story told during COVID times,” “Shelter in Solitude” follows a death row prisoner, played by Macon, with 10 days left to live and his unconventional relationship with a wannabe country singer, played by Fallon Hogan. According to its official website, the film is a social commentary on the inhumane conditions of the American prison system. The movie description poses the question, “If one determined, uneducated woman can bring humanity to the system, why can’t the US government?” “My father was an attorney and would tell us stories about his clients who were in prison, and I would think about them and wonder what they were doing all day in there,” said Fallon Hogan. “Then, when we filmed at the old defunct prison in downtown Syracuse. . . I got a [look at] the prison, and I could not believe the tight quarters and the horrible way they live — so sad.” Fallon Hogan was born in Syracuse and raised in Cazenovia. She graduated from Le Moyne College in 1983 and earned a master of fine arts degree from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. She has acted in several blockbusters, including “Forrest Gump,” “Men in Black,” “Holes,” “New in Town,” “Going in Style,” “Charlotte’s Web,” and “Funny Games.” Her television credits include “Saturday Night Live,” “Seinfeld,” “Billions,” “What We Do in the Shadows,” “American Gods,” “Wayward Pines,” “30 Rock,” and “Law & Order.”
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Manlius Cinema will present sneak peek screenings of Cazenovia native Siobhan Fallon Hogan’s latest film. She will soon be seen in the Sundance hit “Eileen” directed by William Oldroyd and starring Anne Hathaway. “Shelter in Solitude” is the second film to be produced under Fallon Hogan’s production company, Emerald Caz Productions, which she established with her husband, Peter Hogan, and their son, Peter Munson Hogan, in 2019. Emerald Caz Productions’ first feature film, “Rushed,” was released in 2021. Filmed partly in Central New York, the revenge thriller tells the story of Barbara O’Brien, an Upstate NY Irish Catholic mother whose life is turned upside down when her son Jimmy, a freshman in college, is in a fraternity hazing incident. Several key members of the “Rushed” cast and production team returned for the second Emerald Caz Productions film, including Muasya, Patrick, producers Erin Fraser and Patrick Clifton, cinematographer Matthias Schubert, editor Sabine
Emiliani, and production design department member Lisa Luckett. Jay Hunter of Rochester was the BHogan l Page 15
Volume 214, Number 33 The Cazenovia Republican is published weekly by Eagle News. Office of Publication: 35 Albany St., Second Floor, Cazenovia, NY 13035. Periodical Postage Paid at Cazenovia, NY 13035, USPS 095-260. POSTMASTER: Send change of address to Cazenovia Republican, 2501 James St., Suite 100, Syracuse, NY 13206.
schools: Cazenovia High School Academic Decathlon team excels.
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libraries: Book reading, signing to be held at Cazenovia Library.
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Editorial ��������������������� 6 history ������������������������ 6 letters ������������������������ 6 Obituaries ������������������ 2
PennySaver ���������������� 8 schools �������������������� 13 Sports ����������������������� 14