Thirty-four local youth who spent their summer working through Warren County’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) were celebrated Thursday, August 13, 2026 for their efforts helping local businesses, municipalities and non-profits during the busy season.
The youth workers were recognized during an annual picnic luncheon at Crandall Park in Glens Falls that brought together workers, representatives of the employers who hosted them, Warren County supervisors and other local leaders.
They were celebrated for the work they put in during the 6-week program, which brings many of the youth their first experience in the workforce.
Ryder Carlton of Lake Luzerne was named SYEP employee of the summer, honored for his efforts at Adirondack Folk School in Lake Luzerne. NYS Assemblyman Matt Simpson presented his award.
Traci Ross, Adirondack Folk School executive director, said: "Ryder walked in and said 'Anything you need, I can do,' We couldn’t ask for a better employee. There was nothing he wouldn't do for us.”
Summer workers were also recognized and awarded prizes at the event for perfect attendance, perseverance, teamwork, respect toward others and more.
The youth, ages 14 to 20, were placed at 25 work sites around the county, from Glens Falls north to Bakers Mills, and paid $16 an hour through federal grant funding. They learned career skills, financial literacy, workplace protocols and more. Some have been offered continued employment after the program ends this month.
They persevered through a hot summer and greatly helped employers and workplaces with tasks from preparing lunches for Operation Food Chain summer meal program to customer service, landscaping and filing paperwork.
Said Liza Ochsendorf, Warren County Director of Workforce Development: “While some of the youth returned to the program this summer for a second or third year, for many others, it was their first work experience. I want to commend all of the youth for taking a risk in trying something new. It is evident that they excelled in not only learning job skills but also learning something about themselves.”
Ochsendorf thanked them for their efforts at Thursday’s picnic, while the youth workers and their employers heard words of encouragement Thursday from Assemblyman Simpson and SUNY Delhi student Jamie Sabattis, a Johnsburg High School graduate and summer intern at JUST Water in Glens Falls, talked of persevering and overcoming obstacles to get on an engineering career path.
Ochsendorf also praised Warren County Department of Workforce Development staff members Kayla Sherman, Lori Vachon, Dylan Cole and Karli Wood who spent many hours during the summer preparing youth for their jobs, driving throughout the county to conduct site visits, prepare paychecks and observe the workers in action, along with providing both the employee and the employer with support to ensure the success of youth workers.
For more information on the program and other programs offered by Warren County Department of Workforce Development, go to https://swwworkforce.org/career-centers/.
(Photo caption -- from left, Assemblyman Matt Simpson, Ryder Carlton, Liza Ochsendorf and Traci Ross, Executive Director of Adirondack Folk School at 2026 Summer Youth Employment Program picnic on Thursday, August 13, 2026.)