O’Neill students were ‘county employees’ for a day
Ten members of the Youth-in-Government club at O’Neill High School attended the annual Orange County Youth Service Day on April 8. About 55 students from around Orange County participated.
They began their day at the Orange County Government Center in Goshen and then got to spend the morning with various department leaders and were able to get a first-hand look at how our county government operates.
O’Neill senior Arthur Armstrong had perhaps the most unique session of the day — he spent time with County Executive Steve Neuhaus, who is currently deployed with his Naval Reserve unit in an undisclosed location in Europe as part of the response to the crisis in Ukraine. But from that location, he was able to Zoom with Armstrong.
“Each year, we are impressed by the young people who take the time to get involved in our local government,” Neuhaus said. “They actively participated in the different activities during the day, and I know that everyone enjoyed spending time with them. We are all proud of these students and our partnership with Orange/Ulster BOCES.”
Other Raiders had interesting days as well.
Brynn Marks spent part of the morning with Orange County Finance Department; Kate Feldman and Logan Virgil spent their sessions with the Orange County Court system; Claire Swenson was assigned to the Social Services Department; Jacob Brady visited the Probation Department; and Kyle West spent his morning as a deputy sheriff.
As well, Colby Riley, Derek Black and Allison Gash participated in a mock Legislative Session on the Social Host Law with Colby conducting the session as the Legislative chair.
Students also sat in on a session with the Orange County Legislature at the Government Center.
The students were accompanied by club advisors Chris Coyne and Jorma Tompuri.
“After the pandemic hiatus for the past two years, it was great to be able to attend a ‘normal’ function again,” Tompuri said. “The students all expressed how they couldn’t believe how much fun government was and what a fantastic experience the day was.”
Rachel Wilson, Orange County Youth Bureau Executive director, thanked all who participated in the day.
“As a co-planner for Youth-in-Government Day, we appreciate the dedicated elected County officials and the representatives from County departments who invest their time to give youth a behind the scenes look at what it’s like to work in public service,” she said.
The Youth Service Day began in the early 1940s by Orange County resident and Congresswoman Katherine St. George who felt that people were well acquainted with national politics but lacked understanding of how their local town and county governments functioned.
