Thank you to everyone who had steno in their hearts during 2023 Court Reporting & Captioning Week. We continue to hear from members about how they celebrated and got the word out about the amazing court reporting and captioning professions. From New Hampshire to Florida to online, they kept spreading the love!
New Hampshire
Kathryn Sweeney, FAPR, RMR, CRR, a freelancer from Bedford, N.H., created magnets out of an NCRA DiscoverSteno® flyer and put them on both her driver’s side and passenger’s side car doors. “I’m going to leave them on there for a while,” she says.
Rhode Island
Jen Milette, RPR, an official from Warwick, R.I., reports that she used her Facebook page as a platform to celebrate the week. In addition to posting an inspiring video, pictures of herself in the courtroom, and some history and information about the stenographic keyboard, she wrote a blog titled “I am a court stenographer.” Here is an excerpt:
“I am a court stenographer. I’ve had a rewarding career that has spanned two decades of writing on my stenographic machine. I’ve helped provide communication access to deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals and have worked in the judiciary. I am proud of my accomplishments, the friendships I’ve made, and the future of stenographic reporting is here to stay.”
District of Columbia
Juanita Price, RPR, an official from Gainesville, Va., held an open house where she works at the D.C. Superior Court. “My coworker, Julie Jeon, RPR, (an official from Fairfax, Va.) wrote realtime and I wrote into a mobile platform called Bridge Mobile. We had a wonderful time,” says Price. “The steno notes were written by my late director, James Holland.”
Florida
Debbie Hill, CRI, a court reporting instructor at Atlantic Technical College (ATC) in Coconut Creek, Fla., shared how her school celebrated.
“Here at ATC and Technical High School, we had a variety of events scheduled throughout the 2023 Court Reporting & Captioning Week,” Hill said. The events included:
- A Test Fest in which all of the speed students participated.
- A recent graduate who has been working out in the field as a freelance reporter for just over a year, Zoe Zimmerman, shared her experiences as a new reporter with the students and expressed how much she is enjoying the many opportunities that this profession provides.
- During the high school lunch periods, Cara Brookman, one of our students, shared her realtime on a large screen as she was writing to various songs. Students were very intrigued and came by for further information on the profession.
- Starting March 1, the school will offer a free after-school intro to steno course for ATC high school and adult students. Hill notes: “There were quite a few students that signed up to take the course after speaking with Cara and receiving information about this profession. ”
“We had a terrific time and enjoy participating in this event every year to get the word out about this wonderful career and all that it has to offer,” Hill added.
Online – Steno Karaoke
Tamara Musni, a student at Mark Kislingbury’s Academy of Court Reporting from Orlando, Fla., attended “I Love Steno” Karaoke, an online event for students and reporters hosted by Margary Rogers, RPR, CRI.
“I had such a great time watching Steno Karaoke,” said Musni. “While the evening started out with technical difficulties, it was helpful for me to see professionals deal with the technical issues on Zoom. Everyone remained calm while trying to get the sound to work properly.
“Once the music started, I realized just how much I liked Steno Karaoke. Writing to music was so much fun. I enjoyed challenging myself with writing along to all the songs and conversation in a low-pressure way throughout the evening. I also realized that I liked seeing the social aspect of Steno Karaoke. It seems it would be a lot easier to gain steno friends and contacts by participating frequently in events like this as one of the writers. Another thing I liked seeing was that one of the participants writing was a student who is still in theory. It’s good to know that one doesn’t have to be an experienced stenographer to participate as one of the karaoke writers. Overall, Steno Karaoke was so much fun. I highly recommend it!” she added.
Keep it going!
While 2023 Court Reporting & Captioning Week may be over, promoting the profession any time an opportunity presents itself is not. Many of the resources found on the Court Reporting & Captioning page are customizable and can be used for events outside of the week. The resources page offers an array of downloadable promotional materials ranging from press release templates, flyers, presentations, and social media tips to messaging, posters, yard signs, business cards, and much more. In celebration of this year’s week, NCRA also released a Career Day Tool Kit that has a variety of downloadable materials suitable for promoting the profession at any event.
In the meantime, mark your calendars for 2024 Court Reporting & Captioning Week being observed Feb. 3-10.
