Alumni

New Roots Alumni are innovators, environmental stewards, entrepreneurs, college students, and community leaders striving for just and sustainable communities. They all have fascinating stories that they’d like to share with you below.

Please share your story or nominate someone you know to be featured on our website: ALUMNI STORIES

Alumni can request transcripts from our Registrar here: ALUMNI TRANSCRIPT REQUEST

Daniel “Rocky” Bellinger

Daniel “Rocky” Bellinger

Rocky started with college however ended up maintaining an excellent position at an up-and-coming restaurant. He found his curiosity of cooking while working with Chef Alynn at New Roots throughout the years. He loved working all of the spaghetti dinners and helping...

Rosemary Glos

Rosemary Glos

After her graduation from New Roots in 2016, Rosy attended Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. In 2020, she graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in plant evolution and systematics. While at Cornell, she also taught tree climbing for Cornell...

Kai Haskins

Kai Haskins

“The inspiration I received at New Roots has helped me to approach new challenges in creative ways, and helped me to feel at home at Babson College, which is the #1 entrepreneurship college in the US.”

Niaome Hickman

Niaome Hickman

“New Roots helped me explore my interests and think about where I want to go in life.”

Rachel Mitchell

Rachel Mitchell

“I remember discovering the activist within myself at New Roots. Many institutions attempt to silence their students in an effort to keep the peace, whereas New Roots encouraged individuality. My resistance was not disbanded but encouraged when I saw the need to stand up or for something, which encouraged me to carry on with that determination.”

Ezra Davis

Ezra Davis

“When I went off to college I felt very prepared. Some of the most important things I learned at New Roots that served me well in college were how to work in a group and how to pursue my own academic interests.”

Sarajane Roenke

Sarajane Roenke

“I always wanted to find a career that would help people, that would make a difference. New Roots helped me see that doing environmental work would be the best use of my skill set to accomplish this, and it gave me a head start in the field before college.”

Kelsie Torello

Kelsie Torello

“New Roots helped me explore my interests and think about where I want to go in life.”

Irene Case

Irene Case

Irene Case is attending Ithaca College, majoring in Cinema and Photography with a concentration in cinema production.

Tia Bernagozzi

Tia Bernagozzi

“My college level and advanced courses in my senior year, particularly David’s Chemistry course, have helped immensely to prepare me for the intensity and challenge of being a college student.”

Savannah Sprague

Savannah Sprague

“New Roots helps students think more about their surroundings, and is very good at working with the individual needs of students in order to help them learn…”

Siera Ellis

Siera Ellis

Siera Ellis graduated from SUNY Cobleskill with a Bachelor’s Degree in Animal Science. While working on her degree at SUNY Cobleskill, Siera studied abroad in Poland, Austria, and Germany, and completed an internship in her field. With her passion in Animal Science,...

Riley Maassen

Riley Maassen

“My New Roots experience gave me a real understanding of how to work in college through the many college-level courses.”

Will Morgan

Will Morgan

Will Morgan completed an AAS in electrical engineering at TC3 and will be transferring to either Binghamton University or SUNY Polytechnic in the Fall…

Korin Carpenter

Korin Carpenter

“New Roots encouraged me to step up and ask questions, and to volunteer for opportunities that I might otherwise have felt unqualified for.”

Antonio Triana

Antonio Triana

Antonio credits New Roots with giving him the opportunity to take on the challenge of being a college student.

Hannah Watrobski

Hannah Watrobski

“New Roots offered a whole different style of learning. I have been able to discover which environments I learn and work best and what my passions are.”

Michael “Rocky” Petkov

“More than anything else New Roots taught me that to really get ahead one has to be self driven! So much of the work… especially in senior year is all based upon how one can be self-motivated to go the extra mile. In college, it’s been easy to slip into a passive role but my New Roots experience has helped me to fight troughs and eventually going that extra mile.”

Raymond Vanek-Johnson

“New Roots has helped me towards ultimately getting to where I want to be in a few different ways: first, New Roots taught me to be comfortable in my own self, and with who I am. Second, I am well prepared to adjust to the hard work and independence involved in being a college student.”