Ms. Jan to Take Over as SAC Accountant

February 8, 2017

fullsizerender — Ms. Jan greets a student who approaches the front desk of the library (Cathy Sun)

By SAMADI KARUNASUNDERA and YUCHEN FAN
News Writers
Ms. Dawn Jan (Library), the current Media Tech and library assistant, will enter as the new University High’s Student Activities Center Accountant starting on February 10th, 2017, following the retirement of Ms. Cidne Rector (SAC). With the help of Rector and other administrators, Jan has already begun preparing for the swift transition.
“[Ms. Rector] is trying to squeeze in 17 years of experience in five hours of training. We’ve been going over the different accounting procedures, how to deal with students etc.,” Jan said.
The responsibilities of an SAC Accountant include managing all 300 club accounts, selling items from yearbooks to dance tickets and other administrative work. According to Dr. Astor (Admin.), Jan already has many of the skill sets necessary to succeed in her new position.
“When you start a new job like that, you have to use the skills that you have to learn all the skills that are new,” Astor said. “[Ms. Jan] is really organized, [has] done amazing job in the library [and has found] new ways to serve students.”
Rector agreed, saying that Jan had a “really strong accounting background, specifically her restaurant management background,” and “experience in other different financial management areas.”
Jan is known for her presence at the school library. She was an integral part of the project with Mr. Dat Tay (LAN Tech) and Mr. Dominic Fratantaro (Librarian), which turned the library into a collaborative workspace for students to create, according to Fratantaro.
“It’s not often you can say that you are excited to come to work every morning to work with a person,” Fratantaro said. “Needless to say, [Ms. Jan] has added a definite energy to the library. She has a passion for reading and a sincere wanting to get to know students on a personal level.”
The library has also significantly increased in popularity due to the projects Jan spearheaded. She organized creative displays to pique interest, ensured that books were continuously rotated and started directly taking requests from students for books to purchase. From these requests, Jan accumulated a list of novels of similar nature by gathering information from GoodReads, book reviews and novels she has read. It is in part due to her effort that the amount of school library books checked out by students increased by 50 percent compared to the previous year.
“Having such a fun and energetic person like Ms. Jan in the library actually got me to come inside and check it out,” Amy Zhao (Sr.) said. “Honestly, she has a way of just connecting to other students that it motivates them to become passionate on their own. I’ll miss her [presence in the library].”

Donate to Sword & Shield

$180

$1000

Contributed

Our Goal

Your donation will support the student journalists of University High School. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.