Mr. Rob Sassi is the advisor for the Valley Central High School Youth in Government Program. Youth in Government is a county-wide program that seeks to involve young people in learning about the political process through actual participation and competition with other schools.

 

*The Orange County Youth-In-Government Program was inspired by Mrs. Katherine St. George, former chairman of the Orange County Republican Committee and member of the U.S. House of Representatives. While addressing an Orange County Hi-Y Assembly in 1942, Mrs. St. George related that she “found people well acquainted with national politics but woefully lacking in an understanding of how their local town and county governments functioned” and appealed for a greater interest in local government.

In 1944 the Youth-in-Government program was inaugurated through the guidance of Mrs. Amy Bull Crist, Orange County Superintendent of Schools for whom the organization is named. Guided by Mrs. St. George’s vision and Mrs. Crist’s unwavering devotion, the program offers students the chance to learn first hand about the democratic process. Students participate in mock conventions, student run elections, and also shadow elected officials from the local to national levels of government. County Service Day is the culmination of many students’ endless hours of work toward the goal of a better understanding of our governmental process. In no other county in New York State is there a program as long standing and encompassing as Orange County’s Amy Bull Crist Youth-In-Government Organization.