On Friday, January 14, Cazenovia High School held its 27th annual Shakespeare Monologue Competition. Four students in grades 9-12 officially competed in the English-Speaking Union’s Local Competition, and two 8th graders made their debuts. Sophomore Bel Lazarsky was awarded first place for her monologue as Titania from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Bel has now won the high school competition for two years in a row, and she’ll return to the Regional Competition at Syracuse Stage this March. Olivia Morse, a sophomore, came in second place, performing as Touchstone from As You Like It. A first-time competitor, Olivia will act as Bel’s understudy in the Regional Competition. The judges awarded third place to sophomore Grace Probe for her performance of Sebastian in Twelfth Night, and junior Emma Caraher finished fourth after delivering lines from A Midsummer Night’s Dream as Helena.

Though unable to advance to the Regional Competition until next year, 8th graders Sebastian Gebers and Moth Friedman made their debuts (performing monologues from King Lear and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, respectively). Juniors Skylar Dannan and Elijah Gebers hosted the competition, with 8th grader Hailey Jennings introducing the 8th grade performers. Special thanks to senior Eogan Dennison and Mr. Jayson Pritchard for lighting the performances and providing sound for our hosts. Shakespeare Club members Meseret Stevens and Emma Steinberg lent their insightful and generous support to the performers at each step of the competition as well. The Shakespeare Club is grateful for the work of this year’s judges: Mrs. Kathy Hudson, Mr. Ben Wightman, and Mrs. Susan Palmer Everly. Following the competition, students met with Barbara Weller, the Syracuse-area Chairperson of the English-Speaking Union, who congratulated all of the competitors on their fantastic work.

Students interested in performing in this spring’s Shakespearean “flash mob” are encouraged to join the Shakespeare Club, which meets on alternating Thursday in Room 201. We’re lucky to have such a strong program in Cazenovia, and we’re already looking forward to next year’s competition! 

Dear Cazenovia Community Members,

As a celebration of Black History Month, we are inviting interested community members to join community members from ARC-C – the Anti-Racism Coalition of Cazenovia – for some healthful and hopeful conversation focused on the book Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi (young adult version co-written by Jason Reynolds).

Cazenovia Public Library is in the process of procuring both the young adult and the adult versions of the book, which takes readers on a journey through the history of race in America and encourages readers to identify and root out racism in their daily lives in order to embrace empathy, respect, and healing.  Members of the book group can choose to read either the young adult or the adult version of the book, both of which contain the ideas which will be discussed in the group.  Books may also be obtained for purchase online (find a list of Black-owned bookstores to support here).  

Meetings will take place on Wednesdays throughout February and March:  February 2nd, February 16th, and March 2nd in Room 204 of Cazenovia High School, from 6:30 PM-8:00 PM.  (Portico doors to the high school, off of the West Parking Lot,  will be accessible for participants.)  Participants may also join by Zoom, and a link will be shared with you via email prior to the 1st meeting.  Members are encouraged to come to the group with open hearts, ready to discuss both the book and their experiences with race in their lives, and with grace for everyone involved in the discussions.  

Kurt Wheeler will be leading Cazenovia High Students in a simultaneous study of the teen version of the book, and the hope is that the two groups can ultimately unite after their studies of the book for a whole-group meeting.

If you’re interested, please contact Louise or Alan Smith (who will lead the group) at louisebs69@gmail.com or Wendy Everard (who will participate and lend her classroom to the group for use) at weverard555@gmail.com.

Cazenovia CSD is operating on a 2-hour delay on Tuesday, Jan. 18th due to the weather conditions.

For more information on the scope of the capital project, visit our capital project web page.

Join us on Wednesday, January 19 for our Academic Decathlon Spaghetti Dinner in the High School Cafeteria from 5:30-7:00! Tickets are $10 per person or $40 for a family.

The Academic Decathlon is a competition in which students study art, music, literature, math, economics, social science, science and test their knowledge against other teams! In 2019 and 2020, Cazenovia won the New York State Academic Decathlon championship!

Money raised will go directly to help with study materials and travel costs for our students.

Tickets are available both in advanced and at the door. For tickets in advance, please visit www.tinyurl.com/cazad2022.

Click on the image below to view the Absentee Ballot Application for the February 8, 2022 Capital Project Referendum Vote taking place at the Cazenovia Middle School from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m.

For more information regarding the Capital Project Referendum please click here.

January 3, 2022

Dear Cazenovia CSD Families,

We are excited to have your children back and hope you had a lovely break with family and friends. We want to make families aware of some important updates.  

Madison County is now accepting at-home test kit results. For our school district to accept those test results, families and employees must agree to report a positive test result here: https://www.madisoncounty.ny.gov/2825/Form-to-Report-a-Positive-Test-Result

We recognize that there is confusing information out there right now. Part of the confusion is separating the CDC from the local, state and county health departments. As the CDC makes changes, New York State determines how to advise local counties, and from there, each local health department makes certain choices on which items they will follow. At this time, the state and local health departments have not adopted everything the CDC has changed or updated. As we have been doing throughout the school year, we will continue to update our reopening plan as needed regarding any pertinent changes.  

We also wanted to update you and let you know that if you have not already done so, you can pick up at-home test kits at any main office.  

Additionally, we were notified of 27 high school students, 10 middle school students, 9 elementary students and 13 staff members that tested positive over the holiday recess. We are thankful to our families that tested their symptomatic children before returning to school. We continue to run our testing programs in school and had 1 positive test result today. You can view positivity rates by county by clicking here.

As a district we are continuing to meet regularly with our Madison County Health Department, Onondaga Cortland Madison BOCES and we are in regular contact with our school physician.  In a meeting with school administrators last week, the Governor made it clear that we must prioritize in-person learning and that schools are safe. We are participating in all county and BOCES testing programs available. In addition, we are cleaning with hospital-grade disinfectant, utilizing three different types of disinfectant cleaners, and are using electrostatic sprayers throughout the buildings.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me directly at cdifulvio@caz.cnyric.org. Have a great start to your year 2022.

Sincerely,

Chris

Mr. Christopher DiFulvio

Superintendent of Schools

Cazenovia Central School District

31 Emory Avenue, Cazenovia, NY 13035

Madison County Health Department Drive-Thru COVID-19 Rapid Testing: 85 Cedar St in Morrisville (This is at the Old County Highway Garage in Morrisville.)

Eligibility: Symptoms of illness for 1-5 days AND a Madison County Resident OR K-12 staff/student that attends/works at a school in a Madison County School District

BY APPOINTMENT 

https://www.madisoncounty.ny.gov/2589/Find-COVID-19-Testing

Testing this week:

• By Appointment on Tuesday, January 4, 2022, from  9:30am-11:30am – THIS CLINIC IS NOW FULL
• By Appointment on Friday, January 7, 2022, from 9:30am-11:30am – click here to make an appointment 

Upcoming Testing – check back weekly on Mondays for appointment links: 

• Tuesday, January 11, 2022, from 1:00pm-3:00pm 
• Thursday, January 13, 2022, from 9:30am-11:30am
• Tuesday, January 18, 2022, from 9:30am-11:30am
• Thursday, January 20, 2022, from 1:00pm-3:00pm
• Tuesday, January 25, 2022, from 1:00pm-3:00pm
• Thursday, January 27, 2022, from 9:30am-11:30am

Jennifer McGohan, MS

Public Health Educator II

Madison County Health Department

PO Box 605, Wampsville, NY 13163

P: 315-366-2361  l  F: 315-366-2566  l  jennifer.mcgohan@madisoncounty.ny.govWeb: www.healthymadisoncounty.org