Twice a year, in the fall and the spring, seniors at Catskill High School visit Greene Correctional Facility to participate in the Youth Assisted Program (YAP). YAP is specifically designed to provide positive guidance and direction to young people to educate them about the causes of and cures to crime.

Students tour the facility and hear talks by corrections officers about their role at the prison, as well as the things they have to deal with on a daily basis to keep the rest of us safe. The program also includes presentations by inmates who are currently incarcerated. Inmates discuss the circumstances and behaviors that led to their incarceration and the consequences of life in prison. Students are able to ask inmates questions about their incarceration experience and what inmates are doing to not reoffend.

Ms. Warden, CHS social studies teacher, has been bringing her students to this program for many years. Students find the trip to be both intense and enlightening.