By Nikki Burkhamer

Staff Writer

In October of 2023, Sally Stolly was watching CBS Sunday Morning when a story stopped her in her tracks. The segment featured the American Exchange Project, a nationwide program created to give graduating high school seniors the chance to experience a completely different part of America — free of charge.

For Stolly, a long-time educator, the idea was powerful. In 2023, there was only one Ohio high school that was participating in the Exchange. She was able to get Benjamin Logan High School involved in June of 2024.

Now, Bellefontaine and Benjamin Logan are among only a handful of Ohio schools participating in the American Exchange Project.

This spring, state leaders announced that the program is expected to expand into as many as 20 additional Ohio communities by 2027, giving more students the opportunity to experience life in a different part of the country while sharing their own hometown with visitors.

"I love the thought of students at Benjamin Logan High School and Bellefontaine High School being able to have a domestic travel experience to another state, to another community that is opposite of the community type that they grew up in," Stolly said.

That simple TV segment sparked something much bigger in Logan County. Benjamin Logan has now been part of the program for three years, and Bellefontaine High School has been a part of the program for two years.

They are among a growing network of schools participating in the American Exchange Project, a nonprofit program that sends recent high school graduates across the country for one week, then asks them to return home and host students from other states for another week. The experience is completely funded through donations and grants, covering flights, meals, activities and lodgings with vetted host families.

This summer, 18 Logan County graduates took part in the program, while 15 students from across the nation traveled to Ohio to experience life in rural America. For Stolly, the impact goes far beyond the travel.

"I told my own son, ‘It's an investment,’" she said proudly, as her son Patrick Stolly is participating in the program this year. "You experience another community, and then you come home and show off your hometown. It's really about understanding each other and realizing we're all connected."

Team Stolly Leads the Way

Henry and Sally Stolly have become the driving force behind the American Exchange Project in Logan County, helping recent graduates discover both the wider world and the value of their own hometown.

Sally, the Benjamin Logan’s director of administrative services and the Logan County coordinator for the American Exchange Project, works alongside her husband, Henry, who serves as a BHS business and economics teacher and the district’s American Exchange manager.

Together, the couple has spent the last three years recruiting students, organizing activities, and coordinating host families, and they have helped bring students from across the country to Logan County while sending local graduates on adventures to places they may never have otherwise visited.

Although neither receives compensation for the countless hours they devote to the program, both see it as an investment in young people—one that broadens perspectives, builds understanding, and fosters pride in the communities they call home.

Through their leadership, dozens of Logan County graduates have discovered that

while America is diverse in landscapes, cultures and opinions, the connections formed between people often matter most.

Showing Off Logan County

Throughout the week, visitors explored some of Logan County's most beloved destinations. Students spent time at Camp Willson, rode horses and enjoyed outdoor adventures at Marmon Valley Farm, explored the Ohio Caverns, visited local businesses in West Liberty and cooled off at Zoombezi Bay near Columbus.

They also gathered at the historic West Liberty Opera House, where LoCo Art hosted a special creativity day sponsored by the Bellefontaine Rotary Club.

Inside the Opera House, students made photographs into keepsake pins, created whimsical "button people," shared stories, and discovered that art can be a universal language.

Jennifer Davis, co-director of LoCo Art, said the activity was designed to help students preserve memories from a life-changing week.

"They enjoy making those memories for themselves," Davis said. "They've been creating keepsakes from photos taken throughout the week and talking with each other while they create. It's joyful."

Helping lead the art activities was Columbus mixed-media artist Richard "Duarte" Brown, whose message resonated deeply with students. Brown, who has spent decades using art to build community, said simple moments around a table can create lasting connections.

"Breaking bread together, making art together, sharing stories — that's how culture gets passed on," Brown said. "When you plant seeds, trees grow. When trees grow, everyone eats."

He said that meaning more than just the obvious. Seeds of love and togetherness were planted in these young people. They will take what they learned here back to their hometowns to share with others. As he watched students from every corner of the country laugh, create, and share experiences, Brown saw something bigger unfolding.

"These young people are making memories they'll carry forever," he said. "Some of them just met for the first time, but they're already building friendships. It's a beautiful experience."

New Perspectives

For Alejandro Quevedo, a recent graduate of Clark High School in Las Vegas. Ohio felt like a different world.

"In Nevada, it's very dry and full of desert conditions," he said. "Being able to go to a state with so much greenery around was truly life-changing."

Alejandro stayed with the Fissel family and quickly found himself feeling at home.

"I wouldn't trade this experience for the world," he said. "I've learned so much and felt incredibly welcome."

Another visitor, Zach Bouchonville of Albuquerque, N.M., found himself amazed by Logan County's scenery.

"We were driving here, and I was looking out the window thinking, 'Wow, it's so green,'" he said.

Back home, he is used to dry weather, sparse trees and desert landscapes.

"The scenery is probably the biggest difference," Zach said. "Everything here is green."

He especially enjoyed Camp Willson and trying activities he had never experienced before.

"I've been able to do a lot of things I've never done before," he noted. "That's been really cool."

Friendships Across America

For many participants, the friendships were as meaningful as the travel itself.

Emma Merrin, a recent Bellefontaine graduate preparing for her own American Exchange trip to Oregon, said some of her favorite memories came from the moments that weren't even on the official schedule. A group movie night by the pool, conversations that stretched late into the evening, and impromptu gatherings that gave students a chance to connect.

"It's really been wonderful talking to new people," Merrin said. "That's been the best part."

Messiah Jones, who traveled from Gloucester, Mass., said the kindness she encountered in Ohio stood out immediately.

"The people here are friendlier," she said. "Honestly, meeting new people is what I'll take with me."

Similarly, student Bre Brooks from Jasper, Texas, said the relationships formed during the week will stay with her long after she returns home.

"I've made so many friends and had so many laughs," she said. "It feels homey here."

Looking Beyond Our Own Backyard

The experience also proved transformative for local students.

Winnie Bodin, a recent Benjamin Logan graduate who will attend Florida State University this fall, said the American Exchange Project gave her the opportunity to experience life in a completely different part of the country.

"I recently got back from Little Rock, Ark., where I learned what it was like to live in the southern part of the United States and meet a lot of new people," she said.

Kayla Sellars, who graduated from Bellefontaine and plans to attend Bowling Green State University to study aviation, said the week had already opened new doors.

“It's been cool meeting new people, and I'm excited to go to California and meet more new people,” she said. “We just get to hang out, do fun things, and make memories. It's great.”

Haley Kennedy, a Benjamin Logan graduate who participated last year and now serves as a host, traveled to Naples, Fla., during her own exchange. She said the experience challenged her assumptions and broadened her perspective.

"It's easy in a small town to think the way everyone else thinks," Kennedy said. "This gave me the opportunity to meet people with different experiences and understand different perspectives. At the end of the day, she said, one message stands above all others. We're all human. That's how we're connected."

A Growing Movement

According to the American Exchange Project, the program was launched to help bridge divides by giving young Americans firsthand exposure to different communities, cultures,

and ways of life throughout the country. Participants spend one week traveling and one week hosting students in their hometowns, creating what organizers call a two-way experience rooted in reciprocity and connection.

The program is funded through philanthropy and individual donations. Major supporters include the Hearthland Foundation, the Milken Family Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the MacArthur Foundation, the American Gift Fund, the Beth and Ravenel Curry Foundation, the Lauder Family Fund, the Dyson Foundation and hundreds of individual donors.

For Stolly, the growing success of the program isn't measured by numbers.

It's found in conversations around campfires, shared meals, new friendships and students discovering that America is much bigger — and much more connected — than they ever imagined. As the week came to a close at the West Liberty Opera House, students carefully packed away handmade pins, photographs and art projects.

They were simple souvenirs. But they represented something much larger.

A week of adventure. A week of understanding.

And a reminder that sometimes the best way to appreciate your own hometown is to share it with someone you've just met.

~*~

For more information about The American Exchange Project, to become a host family, or to sign up as a student to travel to a city different from your hometown, visit: https://americanexchangeproject.org/. Questions about the program can be sent to Sally Stolly at: [email protected], or Henry Stolly at: [email protected].

American Exchange Program Participants:

Students Visiting Logan County Area (Traveling From):

Student - Home City & State

Zach Bouchonville - Albuquerque, New Mexico

Mia Maldonado - Albuquerque, New Mexico

Calleigh Lockner - Cherry Hills Village, Colorado

Tristan Elliott - Clinton, Connecticut

Messiah Jones - Gloucester, Massachusetts

Bre Brooks - Jasper, Texas

Allison Morales - Metairie, Louisiana

Mariya Hopper - Kilgore, Texas

Sori Buckley - Kingston, Massachusetts

Alejandro Quevedo - Las Vegas, Nevada

Julianna Baldwin - Little Rock, Arkansas

Presdten Foster - Los Angeles, California

Dixie Shrout - Montpelier, Vermont

Wes Peterson - Orem, Utah

Makayla Eastman - Orford, New Hampshire

Local Students Participating in the Exchange (Traveling To)

Student - Destination

Reese Murphy - Albany, California

Finch Hone - Anchorage, Alaska

Patrick Stolly - Arvada, Colorado

Max Fissel - Cotulla, Texas

Caitlin Kaufman - Gloucester, Massachusetts

Sophia Harris - Grants Pass, Oregon

Kaeleb Ostrander - Jackson, Georgia

Taylor Shoffner - Jasper, Texas

Anna Johns - Kingston, Massachusetts

Adilynne Gregg - Las Vegas, Nevada

Winnie Bodin - Little Rock, Arkansas

Haidyn Bruce - Little Rock, Arkansas

Utah Coleman - Little Rock, Arkansas

Greyson Wagoner - Oak Cliff, Texas

Paxton Henry - Palo Alto, California

Kayla Sellars - Palo Alto, California

Aubrey Harris - Springfield, Oregon

Emma Merrin - Washington, D.C.

Exchange Managers: Henry and Sally Stolly. ■