By Lisa Dennison
As we ring in 2024, I would like to take a moment to celebrate everyone who made our NCRA A to Z® Intro to Steno Machine Shorthand program a success last year. In 2023 more than 670 participants earned a program certificate.
We saw a tremendous return on investment through doubling our sessions hosted through NCRA headquarters. Our headquarters-hosted program awarded 316 certificates, and we look forward to this continued success with our 2024 programs. If you would like to help promote our offerings, please consider adding a button to your website or email signature linking to the DiscoverSteno homepage.
While these certificates are just the first step in a student’s journey into this exciting career field, we are hopeful that the positive feedback and solid foundation propel our NCRA A to Z graduates into a formal program and eventually the field of court reporting and captioning. “It was a nice experience studying steno. I felt as if I was very guided on each step learning all about the steno machine,” says Josepha Bacolot, who completed the program last year.
Each year we are pleased to offer scholarships to students who have completed the NCRA A to Z program and are currently enrolled in a court reporting program. In 2023 we awarded 15 scholarships worth $750 each.
We are appreciative of our continued partnerships with industry leaders ProCAT and Stenograph. These vendors help NCRA A to Z students get started on their journey by providing a modern steno machine at an extremely affordable rental rate. We are thankful for the discounts both ProCAT and Advantage Software offer to our NCRA A to Z certificate holders to assist them in continuing their education.
The program would not be possible without our generous volunteers who gave their time to host these programs. NCRA would like to thank the following individuals for participating in the NCRA A to Z program at the local and/or headquarters level:
Eileen Beltz, CRI, Avon, Ohio
Christina Berekoff, RPR, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Abbey Coronado, RPR, Houston, Texas
Carolyn Coronado, RPR, Bellaire, Texas
Lisa Ciurysek, Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada
Kensie Benoit, San Antonio, Texas
April Lassiter-Benson, Riverside, Calif.
Beth Douglas, RPR, Lodi, Calif.
Stacy Drohosky, RMR, CRR, CRI, Hammond, Ind.
Melissa Grimes, RPR, Calhoun City, Miss.
Twila Hoover, RPR, Carriere, Miss.
Sherry Knox, Camp Springs, Md.
Jen Krueger, Ph.D., FAPR, RMR, CRI, CPE, Parma, Ohio
Cyndi Larimer, Claremore, Okla.
Maria Lemmo, Bayside, N.Y.
Mekailah McChriston, RPR, CRR, Spring, Texas
Joanne McKenzie, RPR, CRR, CRC, CRI, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Phyllis McLarty, RMR, Mantachie, Miss.
Kelly Moranz, CRI, Parma, Ohio
Cathy Penniston, RPR, CRI, Waukee, Iowa
Carline Roberts, RPR, East Norwich, N.Y.
Margary Rogers, RPR, CRI, Washington, D.C.
Karen Santucci, CRI, Forest Hills, N.Y.
Leticia Salas, RMR, Houston, Texas
Jennifer Sati, RMR, CRR, CRC, CRI, Dayton, Minn.
Angela Sidener, RPR, Spokane, Wash.
Michael Rowell, RDR, CRR, CRC, Placerville, Calif.
Judy Stewart, San Antonio, Texas
Melinda Wall, RMR, Oklahoma City, Okla.
Beth Weldon, RPR, Oklahoma City, Okla.
Lisa Dennison is the NCRA A to Z® Program Coordinator. She can be reached at ldennison@ncra.org.
