Schools across the country once again participated in this year’s NCRA student speed contest. The contest was held in celebration of 2019 Court Reporting & Captioning Week and gave students the chance to test their speed skills on Literary and Q&A tests. Madalyn Massey, of Des Moines Area Community College in Iowa, was awarded first prize. Kelly Madden, of Atlantic Technical Center in Coconut Creek, Fla., was awarded second prize, and Rachel Marr of the Hardeman School of Court Reporting and Captioning, Tampa, Fla., was awarded third prize.
“I first got interested in the Realtime Reporting program because of a family friend, who is now my wonderful mentor,” said Massey. “It also became a huge motivation for me to get a job where I would be sitting due to an ankle injury I received in high school. I really need a job where I am stationary, and I became even more interested in the career field after seeing firsthand the dedication, professionalism, and passion involved in the court reporting field.”
Massey is set to graduate in December.
Second place winner Madden is returning to court reporting after an 18-year hiatus. A graduate of Sheridan Vocational Technical Institute, Hollywood, Fla., she is back at Atlantic Technical to hone her skills and get to back to the career she loved so much.
Marr is a mother of three who got into court reporting by chance. “I had to leave my radiology program when I was pregnant and while I was on my leave, I talked to an attorney who said that if she had a chance to do it all over again, she would be a court reporter. That piqued my interest, so I started looking into what exactly that detailed [in terms of] school, money, certifications etc.”
The Mardi Gras-themed contest, sponsored by NCRA’s Student/Teacher Committee, was open to students in any court reporting program, at any speed level. Ninety-three students from 10 schools took the tests. One Literary and one Q&A test were given, and each consisted of five minutes of dictation at a speed that each student was either currently working on or had just passed.
In order to be eligible to win a prize, students must have passed the test with at least 96 percent accuracy. The tests, written by Debbie Kriegshauser, FAPR, RMR, CRR, CLVS, CRC, a member of NCRA’s Student/Teacher Committee, were designed so that the speed could be adjusted to fit the student’s speed.
A total of 25 students passed at least one test. Three of those who passed were chosen at random to receive the winners’ beads. As the gold bead, or first prize winner, Massey received an RPR Study Guide ($125 value). Madden, the purple bead, or second prize winner, was awarded the choice of a one-year NCRA student membership ($46 value) or one complimentary leg of the RPR Skills Test ($72.50 value). The winner of the green beads, Marr, won a $25 Starbucks gift card.
Many thanks to Kriegshauser for her hard work writing the speed tests and preparing the other testing materials. The contest would not have been possible without her.
NCRA would like to showcase the hard work that students and schools are doing to promote the court reporting and captioning professions. Below are the names of all the students who participated in this year’s contest. Students marked with an asterisk passed the test with 96 percent accuracy or higher.
Atlantic Technical College
Coconut Creek, Fla.
Kelly Madden*
Victor Laznik
Amber King
Lynn Corbet
Brown College of Court Reporting
Atlanta, Ga.
Parker Burton
David Gee
Shirley Johnson
DeLeon Little
Chris Tomko
College of Court Reporting
Valparaiso, Ind.
Kerri Huff
Natasha Wentzel
Patricia Lopez*
Des Moines Area Community College
Newton, Iowa
Madelyn Schmidt*
Madison Rowland
Madalyn Massey*
Green River College
Auburn, Wash.
Ashley Dixon*
Spencer Holesinsky
Justin Choi
Sarah Webb
Mariah Banta*
Alexandra Fleming
Hardeman School of Court Reporting and Captioning
Tampa, Fla.
Michele Buono*
Rachel Marr*
Casey Venoitte*
Mark Kislingbury Academy of Court Reporting
Houston, Texas
Christy Nowotny
Pearl Gonzalez
Cayley Rodrigue
Macomb Community College
Clinton Township, Mich.
Allison Boggess
Jennifer Mitrevski
LaTasha Lindsey
Allison Grawburg
Carla Stark
Kim Champagne
Jackie Felker
Robin Fisette
Dorothy Strong
Robert Ludkiig
Kelly Mason
Alicia Urbinati
NAIT
Edmonton, AB Canada
Andriana Bilous
Angeline Jacobsen
Caprice Albert
Elizabeth Fossen
Emily Ferdinand
Ericah Crumback
Jasmine Hallis
Jennifer Friesen
Jodie Kostiw
Joseph Nudelman
Julia Desrosiers
Katherine Gallin
Kayla Velthuis-Kroeze
Kelcy Sherbank
Kristina Zeller
Krystal Truong
Lucie Titley
Marie Foreman
Meagan Gibson
Michael Thomas
Robin Tarnowetzki
Roxanna Doctor
Sara Pelletier
Tyler Hopkins
Abby Robinson
Amanda Hebb
Ariana McCalla*
Bradley Morrison
Julie Layton*
Lora Zabiran
McKaya Baril*
Michelle Stevens
Netannys Turner-Wiens
Presley Thomson
Sarah Pfau
Shauna Lagore*
Stephanie Jabbour
Yazda Khaled
Plaza College
Forest Hills, N.Y.
Paula Mullen*
Taylor Mascari*
Bianna Lewis*
Letizia Yemma*
Michelle Paluszek*
Elisabeth Dempsey*
Dishawn Williams*
Maia Morgan*
Alexandra Bourekas*
Rachel Salatino*
Emily Nicholson*
Tikiya Etchison*
Christina Penna
Shane Perry
Pedro Santiago
Cecilia Miranda
