Anna Ybarra keeps activities office moving

Before a representative from the California Department of Education walked through the office doors on Feb. 15 to do a routine audit for the school by examining internal controls and making sure everything is accounted for, school activities secretary Anna Ybarra had spent hours preparing the paperwork.

The paperwork included records of receipts, bank reconciliation reports, ASB and club budget forms, dance ticket logs and inventory reports.

The audit workload was a standard duty for Ybarra and not a source of major stres, as she prefers to keep her office organized year-round.

Ybarra, who has worked at the school for 10 years, previously worked in attendance until the last activities secretary went on medical leave five years ago. Ever since she was offered the position in 2012 she has been managing the activities office .

Aside from selling dance tickets and pictures and working closely with ASB, Ybarra also handles all the accounting for ASB, deposits and reimburses checks, clears sports enrollment forms and issues parking permits.

“I give [the activities office] 110 percent,” Ybarra said. “I’m very dedicated.”

ASB Board Representative junior Nathon Chin has worked closely with Ybarra this past year and greatly appreciates all Ybarra does for the ASB.

“Ms. Ybarra always brings positive energy,” Chin said. “She puts a lot of care into her work, and you can tell she loves doing her job.”

Chin remembered one time recently when the ASB wanted to deliver a thank-you package to San Mateo School District’s superintendent and former SHS principal, Kevin Skelly, for being a guest speaker for the Leadership class, and Ybarra did so immediately by mailing it through FedEx.

“She went out of her way to run an errand for ASB,” Chin said.

This year, Ybarra also chaperoned Leadership’s annual Disneyland trip. Before the trip, Ybarra attended a conference from Jan. 25-27 at a nearby Disneyland hotel that was held by ASBWorks, the accounting software used by Saratoga. While she was there, she attended sessions that taught her how to use the software to run in-depth reports and track student registration, ASB accounting, rules and regulations.

“The conference helped me learn advanced reporting and how to run specific reports that assisted in the audit process,” Ybarra said.

According to Ybarra, the busiest time of year is probably the beginning of the year. Not only does she have deal with enrolling students in fall sports in addition to her usual responsibilities, she also manages paperwork flooding in with Falcon Fest.

“I have to enter 1,400 of [the admissions forms] individually into each student’s records, so it gets very busy,” Ybarra said.

Other busy times of the year include Winter Formal and prom season, as Ybarra must manage all the dance funds and manage ticket sales. However, she said she does not mind that her job keeps her so busy.

“Just being able to feel a relationship with all the students, the clubs and ASB is very rewarding,” Ybarra said. “I’m very lucky.”