SDA Registrar Bridget Sabin was named Classified Employee of the Year for all of San Diego County this month. Sabin, who has been working in the district for 20 years, is the first classified employee in SDA’s history to win the award at the county level.

She was nominated by Assistant Principal Jeanne Jones, counselor Vicky DeJesus and principal secretary Lois Delanty, who wrote letters on her behalf. They were also among the co-workers who surprised and congratulated her with flowers when she won.

Sabin said it was a surprise to win at all levels – school, district and ultimately county.

“Each and every time I nearly fainted,” she said. She added that in her time in the district, she had won SDA Classified Employee of the year once previously (in 2009) but had never made it further than that.

“Being singled out… is a really nice thing and I really thought I was too old to be moved by that,” Sabin said of her reaction to the award.

The registrar’s primary duties are registering freshman and helping seniors with transcripts for college applications. Sabin said one of her favorite parts of the job is helping students at the beginning and end of their high school careers, and that “teenagers have a wonderful energy.”

“I’m very proud to represent all the classified people,” she said, “who welcome children and their parents.”