Senior Ella Mitchell’s enjoyment of working and playing outside has inspired her to look into the possibility of studying wine marketing at Tompkins Cortland Community College following graduation. Massage therapy, another program at the college also holds some appeal.
She said wine marketing is appealing because of her interest in farming and that the program at TCCC includes on-the-job vineyard experience in the summer between the first and second years of instruction.
Ella likes the school’s close proximity to Syracuse, which is less than an hour’s drive.
“I have friends from last year that are in Syracuse and a brother there so I’ll be around people that I know,” she said.
Recreationally, Ella enjoys kayaking and hiking. She has skied with the Polar Bear Ski Club and was a member of the varsity ski team from seventh through ninth grades.
She has also worked with horses, having been employed as a trail guide during the summers in Eagle Bay and in Thendara at the former Flatrock Mountain Ranch.
“I definitely like horses a lot,” she said, adding that until recently she had a horse of her own and did a lot of trail riding.
Her favorite teachers are English instructor Michael Cunningham and Pat Harwood in the resource room. She also cites health teacher Diane Amos who instructs her favored gourmet class.
Ella has been in Old Forge since she was five, growing up in the same town as her dad and his family. She said her grandparents continue to live here and that she has liked having family around.
She is excited to graduate, but reflective about this being her last year.
“Because I have been with the same people since kindergarten, it’s sentimental to know that we have one year left to hang out. I’m going to miss being able to walk into any store and know people,” she said.
Although she wants to live in a city, “somewhere new, that’s exciting,” she said she’ll definitely try and come back and visit a lot.
Ella is the daughter of Mike and Karen Mitchell of Old Forge and the granddaughter of George and Lorraine Mitchell of Okara Lake.