By Terra Avilla
This week I wanted to speak about our Lassen High School registrar. Not because of the position that she holds, (do not worry if you don’t know what a high school registrar does, I didn’t either until I was assigned to Lassen High School) but because of the person she is. Dawn Lightsey.
I first met “Dawn-ikins” (she hates that name, but I love it) when she worked in the safety office of the high school. Dawn was patient, kind and took her job very seriously. It was through this capacity, day in and day out, that I got to know Dawn for the amazing person that she is.
Besides being incredibly thorough at her work, I learned that Dawn is perhaps one of the most thoughtful and incredibly creative people I have ever met. There was not a staff birthday that occurred that Dawn didn’t remember.
Week after week, Dawn would make the most delicious treats to celebrate her friend’s birthdays. They never asked her to do so, but none the less she would repeatedly show up with homemade goodies for them.
They were so delicious in fact, that I asked Dawn to make Peach’s first birthday cake, and I was blown away, not only by its appearance but at how long I knew it must have taken her to make it. She smiled as she delivered it and stated it was “no big deal.”
Through my years as SRO, I have watched Dawn interact with numerous students and observed how she built rapport with many of them.
Students would come in to see her to vent about their issues or ask her for advice. They loved her and it was obvious she genuinely cared about them.
A couple of years ago Dawn took a new position at the high school, acting as the registrar, where her meticulousness still comes in handy, and Dawn is still one of the most creative and thoughtful people that I know. She remembers my kid’s birthdays and asks about them when even I have a hard time keeping my family dates straight.
Dawn has made Susanville her home and has raised her beautiful daughters her. She proudly displays pictures of them and her gorgeous grandbabies. I am so lucky that over the past couple years I have gotten know to my sweet Dawn, she is truly a blessing and one of the reasons I love the place we live.
