Alumni Spotlight – Sara Warner ‘06

Service to others comes naturally for Sara Warner. For that she credits, in part, her family’s work with the American Legion and her connection with Girl Scouting, where she earned the organization’s prestigious Gold Award while growing up in Glen Rock. With her work at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) she gets to make service to others a career.

At Susquehannock, she played the clarinet in concert band and was with the marching band’s color guard. She also participated in Indoor Color Guard. Sara identifies these activities as her favorite high school memories. An excellent student, Sara earned consistent honor roll designation and induction into the National Honor Society.

When she opted for Air Force Basic Military Training after graduation, she recalls pressure from her teachers to continue study in college instead. “I credit Mrs. Lawrence, my AP History teacher, for supporting me through that time,” she says. “She told me that I knew where my heart was, and if that was my choice, then I had to believe in it. It was a decision I’ll never regret.”

After completing her basic training in San Antonio, she served as a financial analyst in the Comptroller’s Office, rising to the rank of Staff Sergeant, serving for USAF-Europe. This branch assignment resulted from Sara telling her recruiter that her favorite high school subject was accounting, remembering how much she enjoyed her SHS classes with Mrs. Rill.

While serving, she pursued a college education, first by earning an Associate’s degree in the College of the Air Force and later completing her Bachelor of Science degree at Drexel University, in Philadelphia during her first civilian job.

Her post high school study was in finance, further exemplifying her career path.

Sara served in the Air Force for six years and then took a similar assignment as a civilian with the Department of the Navy. While duties of both assignments were similar, she enjoyed being closer to home and having a permanent address.

With the title of Financial Analyst in her job postings, she developed a diverse skill set that included: budget development and administration; procurement; data mining; payroll systems; foreign currency transactions; forecasting; and data-base management and security. She was also given management and supervisory responsibilities, which she found fulfilling.

In 2013, when a job came open with CDC Hyattsville, Maryland she took it. There she was able to put all that she learned with the Air Force and Navy into play.

With CDC, she currently works with the Department of Human Health Services, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Center for Health and Statistics. She identified her most interesting assignment as a three-month posting in Atlanta supporting the U.S. effort fighting the Ebola epidemic.

Recently married, Sara (now Sara Garber) lives in Odenton where she enjoys being close to her family, who still live in the area, her parents in Glen Rock, a sister, and a nephew in Spring Grove.

Sara loves her work with CDC and plans to make a career of government service. To advance that dream, she recently began work in a Master’s program in public administration at George Washington University. Her goal is to become a chief financial officer at a federal agency.

Thanks to Sara Warner, Class of 2006, for making us Warrior Proud.