Class Notes for July 2021

Find out which of our alums is celebrating a promotion, a new career, or their start-up business in Class Notes. See who is making news, and take a moment to remember those who have passed on.

Every month, we find ourselves short on news from classes before the 1990s. We want to share all of our alumni’s accomplishments, but we don’t know what you’re up to if you don’t tell us. Please email us at alumni@strose.edu with your job changes, retirement news, promotions, or wedding and baby announcements, and write “class notes” in the subject line.

2020s

Kaliah Noel ’21 is an operations assistant at IMI Studios in New York, New York.

Jennifer Scamell G’21 has become the new technology and innovation director for New Hyde Park-Garden City Park (Long Island, New York). She was previously district technology integration specialist. She has worked for the district since 1998.

Wari Isaac ’20 has become staff accountant at Redburn Development Partners in Albany, New York.

Jackson Murphy ’19 and his firm, Lights Camera Jackson Productions, are involved in a new television series, “Everybody’s A Critic,” that’s described as “part roundtable debate show, part game show, part reviews show, and – all Movies!” In Murphy’s partnership venture with Chaz Ebert, publisher of RogerEbert.com, the show will feature a diverse, rotating panel of film critics who discuss new blockbuster releases as well as indie gems. The critics will also be competing for honors and prizes of cash donations to their favorite charities.

2010s

Tylor DuGuay ’18 was promoted to client development associate at CLG Insurance in Albany, New York.

Brian Graham G’18 is a human resources intern at NSF International in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and is earning his master’s degree in human resources and labor relations at Michigan State University.

Alquan Higgs ’18 has become coordinator of first-year programs and leadership development at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Taylor Nazon ’17 has become email marketing manager for Chicago Public Media in Chicago, Illinois.

Nina Buonarota ’16 has become a business development representative at Precisely in Cohoes, New York.

Christopher J. Hartigan G’16 has been appointed principal of Stratford Elementary School in Garden City, New York. He was previously assistant principal at Stratford. Before that, he taught at PS253Q in Far Rockaway, Queens, New York.

Allee Alexandra von Stackelberg ’16, Esq., has become an assistant district attorney at the Albany County District Attorney’s office in Albany, New York.

Abigail Barker ’16 has become spokesperson for the New York State Department of Health in Albany, New York.

Kayla Curtiss ’15, G’17 is a proud new mom to little Lincoln. (See photo above)

Francesca Mills ’15 has become team leader at Fidelity Investments in Denver, Colorado.

Jillian Schook ’14 has become laboratory operations supervisor, cytology, for Northwell Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, New York. She is also pursuing an MBA in healthcare administration at Baruch College.

Jermaine Brookshire Jr. ’13, Esq., has become CLE director at Connecticut Bar Association–Young Lawyers Section. In addition to CLE director, Brookshire also still holds the position as the business law co-chair.

Kelly Ann Osorio G’13 has become director of financial services for Berkshire Community College’s new position to Berkshire Community College (Pittsfield, Massachusetts). She was most recently director of financial aid at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania. She has been in higher education for 12 years, and started her career at Saint Rose.

Michael Pomarico ’12 was 2019 Employee of the Year for the Mint Hill Police Department in Mint Hill, North Carolina. Officer Pomarico has been with the department for six years and in the K-9 program for three years.

Andrea Gray G’10 has become director of marketing, special events, and public relations for Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center.

2000s

Michael Sloman G’09 has been composing and performing his poetry for diverse crowds ever since his high-school years at Albany High School. He runs spoken-word poetry programs at Albany High School and Albany Leadership Charter School and started up Our Harlem Screenplay at Kulture Seed Films.

Golden Knights basketball great Steve Dagostino ’08 has been inducted to the Northeast-10 Conference Hall of Fame, joining national champion diver Brandon Birchak ’07 and the 2011 champion women’s soccer team.

Jon Accardi ’07 has been named associate vice president and director of athletics at Keuka College in Keuka Park, New York. He had previously served as the college’s dean of students and associate vice president for student life.

Katie Gabriel ’06 was one of the artists who painted fiberglass cow statues for the New York State Fair. The cows are traveling across the state to raise awareness of all things dairy before being displayed at the State Fair. Currently an art teacher at Fayetteville-Manlius High School, Gabriel teaches painting and drawing, as well as advanced art. Her family descended directly from the Everingham family of Lafayette, a dairy-farming family that dates to before the Revolutionary War. Gabriel used exclusively New York State-manufactured materials in her decoration of the cow statue.

Franco Pacheco ’06 is director of communications for Community Partnership for Youth in Seaside, California.

Krista May ’03 has become director of strategic marketing and communications for the Connecticut Sun.

William Male ’02 was promoted to deputy chief of the Rotterdam Police Department (Rotterdam, New York). He was previously a lieutenant in the department. Male has been with the department since 2006.

1990s

Megan-Claire Chase ’99 was featured in an article from the V Foundation on the need for health equity in cancer care. The feature was based on her own experience, as a now 5 year cancer survivor.

Gretchen Guenther-Collins ’99, G’99 has been promoted to the position of shareholder for Teal, Becker & Chiaramonte, CPAs. She has been with the firm since 2000. She is also the treasurer of the board of directors of the Albany Damien Center and a member of the Saint Rose Golden Knights Athletic Advisory Council.

Sarah Robinson ’99 has been promoted to the position of shareholder for Teal, Becker & Chiaramonte, CPAs. She is on the board of directors for the Ronald McDonald House Charities.

Nikki (Radens) Arel ’96 has been inducted into the Phi Alpha Honor Society, which honors social work students. Once COVID shut down Nikki’s massage business indefinitely (now reopened), she started her Master of Social Work degree through Walden University’s asynchronous online degree program, something she has been considering for a few years. With the goal of a certificate in military social work, she currently has a field placement at Veterans Base Camp in Chaplin, Connecticut.

Sanjay Shrestha ’97 was featured in an article in the Albany Business Review. His unconventional career path began with a job as a senior research analyst covering the clean-technology sector, with a focus on fuel cells. He recently became chief strategy officer at Plug Power in Albany.

Cosimo Tangorra, Jr. G’95 is the new superintendent of the New Hartford Central School District in Oneida County. Tangorra had most recently served as Niskayuna Central School District superintendent in Niskayuna, New York, which he joined in 2015.

April Bartel ’91 is a marketing specialist at Frederick Innovative Technology Center, Inc. in Frederick, Maryland.

In memorial

Alumni
Barbara A. Stieber ’95
Rebecca A. Howe ’91
Claudia E. Smith ’86
Cecelia V. Artino ’78
Merritt G. Sargent G’73
Lauretta A. McGuirk G’68, Ph.D.
Sister Yvette Martin, CSJ ’67, ’73
Jennie (Cerminaro) Joseph ’66
Joyce Kieloch ’62
Virginia Logan ’62
Charlotte J. Sutherland G’60
Ann Ahern Meade ’56
Antoinette R. Damian ’51
Dr. Mary Jane (Fina) Kinosian ’50
Charlotte M. Szarejko G’50
Elizabeth Norton Casavant ’48

Friend of Saint Rose
Joseph C. Faul (husband of Karene Tarquin Faul for more than 41 years)