MINOA — A group of international high school students here in the United States as part of the cultural exchange organization Greenheart Exchange were given a presentation in January by Minoa Mayor Bill Brazill about the workings of American government, and in return Brazill learned a thing or two about their home countries.
All visiting for one school year, the students in the local section of the program are attending school in the East Syracuse Minoa, Jamesville-DeWitt, Fabius-Pompey, Liverpool, Baldwinsville, Oneida, Chittenango, and Endicott districts and at Bishop Grimes Junior/Senior High School.
They hail from countries all over the world, including Egypt, India, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Mali, Serbia, Montenegro, Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Poland, Mongolia, Morocco and Turkmenistan.
Brazill started by saying his last name is the same as the South American country but with an extra ‘l’ before telling them he’s been mayor of Minoa for nine years now and that he’s lived in the village since the age of eight.
During his talk, the mayor informed the students about the branches of the federal government in the U.S., aspects of the New York State, county and city levels of government, and a little bit about what goes on in the 3,600-person village of Minoa.
Comparing a municipality in a way to a small corporation, Brazill went over the duties handled by the village’s department of public works, the wastewater treatment plant employees, his board of trustees, the clerk’s office, the court judges, the village attorney, and Minoa’s fire department and ambulance service, and how they all work together day to day to have the village looking and running the way it does.
He also explained how the village’s open-to-the-public meetings operate, detailing that residents can voice their opinions and that majority votes are held to pass laws.
On a local level, it’s more about quality-of-life issues like garbage pickups, making sure the streets are clear, and whether everyone’s toilets flush, so party politics don’t always come into play as much, he clarified to the group.
Later on, Brazill brought up beautification projects that have happened locally and some of the local businesses, adding that he enjoys being able to be mayor of the community he grew up in and that it’s “a wonderful place to live and raise a family” that’s slightly out in the country but with neighborhoods and a railroad going through it.
Brazill also drew attention to the pictures of the 14 former mayors of Minoa hung on the wall of the village hall court room, and he made sure to mention that in 1913—when Minoa was incorporated as a village—women were allowed to vote there when they weren’t elsewhere in New York, years before the ratification of the 19th Amendment.
In addition to touching on term lengths, delineations between municipalities and school districts, how voter registration works, and reasons for the Electoral College in America, Brazill also handed out mini American flags to each visiting student.
That day, the students explained to Brazill the structures and procedures of their own governments, how their elections are run, the availability of their communities’ mayors if they have one and how often they’ve interacted with them, along with other similarities and differences.
“I get a lot out of this just hearing about your countries,” Brazill said to the students. “We’re not so different even if our lifestyles might be, and we have a lot in common. The world’s not so big a place—we’re all people.”
Since some of the international students aren’t as used to the winter weather seen in Central New York, they were also curious about the amount of snow the village of Minoa gets and how difficult it can get to deal with it all.
This marks the second year Brazill has given his presentation to Greenheart Exchange students, giving them a chance to check off their box that they’ve spoken with an American government official.
The students’ “enhancement activities” for Greenheart Exchange also include team buildings at Beaver Camp in Lowville, a visit to the Seneca Falls women’s rights museum, a Washington D.C. trip to learn about religious tolerance and sightsee from monument to monument, and then a visit to New York City in December at the beginning of the holiday season.
Catherine Jeannin, a local coordinator for Greenheart, said the ultimate goal is for the students to grasp how America’s government and economy function, glean lasting takeaways, and eventually become leaders in their own countries, thereby promoting democracy and better relations with the U.S.
Though local American students don’t go to their countries at the same time to make for an exactly even exchange, Jeannin said the international students’ host families here often travel to visit the students who lived with them after they go back. Also, now the Greenheart students will have made connections in America, while the people they meet in the U.S. can always say they’ve known someone from their country, no longer thinking of it as just another spot on the map.
The nonprofit Greenheart Exchange works with the U.S. Department of State, and the local section is always looking for local people to get involved and open their homes as host families for the visiting students if they’re able.
