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President: Mary Burzynski I
am an official court reporter, and I work half-time in Taylor County
and half-time as the District 9 floating court reporter. I enjoy the
balance and the diversity that both positions offer me. When I attended
a convention and I heard Ed Johnson talking about NCRA Legislative Boot
Camp is when I decided that I would like to become more active in the
Wisconsin Court Reporters Association. I have been to Boot Camp three
times, and every time I have learned more than the last. It's a great
experience. Wisconsin is a great place to be a court reporter, and I
would like to ensure that it remains so into the future. I hope to see
the membership in our association increase, and I would like to see
more reporters become actively involved in our board and in our
committees. In my free time I like to visit my children and my
granddaughter. I also enjoy visiting with all my court reporting
friends, when we can get our schedules to jive. We all know how that
is. I like to work on my scrapbooks, and I also enjoy making cards. My
schnauzer Gracie gets me up every morning to run, and I have found that
I am liking that, too.
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 President-Elect: Susan Kay
Owner
of Brown & Jones Reporting, Inc. Established in January, 1987. My
free time these days is spent taking care of my family, sailing,
jogging, serving as the Vice President of the Oconomowoc Area School
District School Board. I feel it's important to volunteer my time to
WCRA because I want to give back something to a profession that has
been very
rewarding to me for the last 29 years.
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 Immediate Past President: Chris Willette
I
am a freelance reporter and owner of Willette Court Reporting, LLC, in
Wausau. I have been freelancing for my entire career. I love the
flexibility of freelancing. My husband and I have two children, both
attending the University of Wisconsin - Madison. When I'm not working
on a transcript or WCRA business, I also like to play paddleball, ski,
garden, cook, or read something other than a transcript!
Over the years, I have volunteered for many
community and school groups, committees, and boards. More recently, I
have served on the NCRA Mid-Year Planning Committee and am currently
on the Freelance Community of Interest Committee, the Nominating
Committee, and was just elected to a two-year term on the NCSA
(National Committee of State Associations) governing board.
I
feel that volunteering for these things has made me a better person; it
has made me much more aware of the challenges others face every day. I
have learned a lot, and I hope that I have given something in return.
Without volunteers, many of these associations would not exist. If
everyone can give a little, it allows these groups to become a
productive part of society. |
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Treasurer Ann Albert
I
have worked in Dane County for my entire court reporting
career, and am currently employed as an official for Daniel Moeser in
Branch 11.
In my rare moments of spare time, I like to run, spend time
with my 12-year-old son, husband and new step-grandson, and hang out at
our cabin in Minocqua. Being involved in WCRA keeps me informed of and
involved in issues that are affecting this awesome profession that I've
enjoyed for so many years! |
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Secretary: Kathy Jagow
Hi! I’m Kathy Jagow. I am an official reporter in Ozaukee County for the Honorable Joseph D. McCormack. We have been working together since 1980, and he will retire in January of 2009. I job share, working every other day, and I love it!
My husband and I recently celebrated our 25th anniversary. We have two sons, both seniors this year (one in college, one in high school). The empty nest is looming so I decided now would be a good time to run for the Board. Many thanks to my campaign manager, Terri Knowles. I couldn’t have done it without you!
For the past three years I have been teaching an online legal terminology class through LTC. Most of my students are in their first semester of the judicial reporting program. Brings back memories! I enjoy staying connected and knowing that in a very small way, I am making a contribution to the world of court reporting. Plus, each fall I have fresh ears for all my “war stories”!
I am also a member of the PR Committee and the LTC Advisory Board. In my free time I enjoy reading, baking, shopping and walking. I also belong to a book club and enjoy yoga-lates classes.
As a member of the Board, I work for YOU. Contact me anytime with your concerns, comments and suggestions. I look forward to seeing you at upcoming conventions!
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Director: Sarah Falsey
I graduated
from Madison Area Technical College in 1999 and after a short stint of court
reporting, I have been a CART provider for the McBurney Disability Resource
Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for 10 years. I am now the Lead Captioner and Coordinator
for the McBurney Center, and I love my job.
The McBurney Center provides CART for students in all types of classes,
from Shakespeare to Immunology to Engineering.
I have learned a great deal about professional ethics, how to work with
interpreters, Deaf culture, and how to work with students who have hearing
loss. I believe I have a variety of
information and experience that I will be able to pass on to other court
reporters and captioners. In my spare
time, I enjoy spending time with my husband Eric, my two-year-old son, Brock,
and two English Setters, Willow and Leeloo.
I also like to make pottery, watch football, and bowl.
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Director: Tara Monthie
Hi, everyone. I am so pleased to be serving on the Board of
Directors for a second term. Thank you for this opportunity to help serve in
YOUR best interest!
I graduated from MATC in 1994 and began working freelance in
Madison. In 1997 I obtained an officialship in Columbia County working for the
Honorable Daniel S. George. What a wonderful juncture it was! Many great
friendships were formed there! After the birth of our first son, I cut down to
a job-share position and worked freelance during my time off for a different
firm in Madison, and also began teaching theory and judicial procedures at
MATC. I kept up that routine for five years all while working toward my goal of
becoming a closed captioner. I left the courthouse in the fall of 2006 and
began providing CART to students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I
recommend it to anyone who wants to utilize their realtime skills completely!
The classes I sat in on and the knowledge I gained was remarkable. By Spring of
2007, I felt the time had finally come to pursue my goal of doing closed
captioning. I obtained a full-time position with Caption Colorado in May.
After 15 months with them, I realized a little more stability was needed in my
life. An officialship opened up in 2008 at the Dane County Courthouse
with the Honorable Richard G. Niess whom I had known since I started in this
profession, so I went for it and here I am. I am loving being an official
again!
Now that I have done pretty much everything I can in this
profession, I can't say where I'll end up in the end, but every step and every
facet has been WONDERFUL!!! I truly love being a court reporter/captioner!
As far as personally, I'm married to Roderick with two
rambunctious boys - Colin (8) and Keaton (4 1/2). I'm definitely a bit
outnumbered in our household, but having a ball watching them grow up! My
hobbies include sports - especially volleyball and golf - doing family
activities, traveling, projects around the house, and stained glass when I get
the time!
Feel free to contact me about anything!!
Director: Jessie Waack
I want to say thank you to those who nominated me to the board. I appreciate the opportunity you have given me.
There's so much to tell, it really is hard to figure out where to start. I graduated from LTC about 10 years ago and headed out to a great profession. Shortly after I obtained my degree, I moved to Wausau and worked as a freelance reporter for a small court reporting firm. While there, I had the opportunity to do per diem work in the courthouse. It was a great experience, although my heart remained in the freelance field.
About six months after I moved to Wausau, I decided a change of scenery was called for in my life, and I moved to downtown Milwaukee. I have now been a freelance reporter with Brown & Jones Reporting, Inc. for nine years. My co-workers are a wonderful group of people that I feel honored to be able to work with. During my tenure with my current firm, I have been able to have experience with captioning and a lot of interesting cases.
My personal interests vary quite a bit. Of course with living in the downtown area, I am an avid patron of the arts whether it be art shows, theater venus or just concerts. Everything is within walking distance, which is great because it seems to be the only exercise I've been able to get lately!! Other than that, I truly enjoy traveling. Most of my travels have taken me to Western Europe, but I am looking at this coming year to travel to Eastern Europe and Northern Africa; not all in one trip, of course. I have had a lot of domestic travels which have covered approximately half to a third of the United States. The history, architecture and scenery is always breathtaking!!
Once again, thank you for the opportunity and trust you have put in me as a new member of our wonderful association. I will do everything I can to represent the interests of our members.
Director: Cathy Sosnowski (AKA Raggedy Ann)
Thank you so much for the opportunity
to serve as your board member. And thank you, Chris Willette, for having enough
faith in my abilities to recommend me for nomination. I am looking forward to an exciting and
adventurous year!
I grew up in Stevens Point and, after
graduating from high school in 1981, attended LTC and received an Associate’s
degree in the court/conference reporting program in 1984. I began my “official” career with Judge Grant
in 1988, Branch IV, Green Bay, and have been working in the court system ever
since.
My husband, Jon, and I moved from De
Pere back home to Stevens Point in 1999. I freelanced in the courts in Stevens Point from August
of 1999 until January of 2001 when I began working with Judge Mason in Wisconsin Rapids. In September of 2007, I began working with
Judge Huber out of Waupaca. And not to
sound like a suck-up, but I really love my job!
(I work 80%; Richard Kienbaum is my job-share partner. He works Fridays.)
I enjoy camping, swimming, reading,
scrapbooking, and going to wine tasting events!
Jon
and I have been married for 24 years – and, yes, I told him he HAS to do
something fun and exciting next year for our 25th anniversary! We have three wonderful boys: Joey, age 22; Corey, age 19; and Jason, age
12. And a big American bulldog named Max...and two cockatiels and a
gecko!
I, like Chris Willette, believe
volunteering is a wonderful opportunity to give back to a community. Our family
has volunteered for Special Olympics, YABA (youth bowling), UWSP hockey,
Wisconsin Public Radio, and at the many sporting activities that our children
were and continue to be involved in, to name a few. (I’m sure my husband is saying, “So that’s
why I’m so tired!”)
My
career goal is to be real-time ready, even if I’m not certified, by spring 2010
so that I can do CART for the deaf parents of a UWSP hockey player.
Director: Lynette Swenson
Director: Lori Baldauf
It's a pleasure to join WCRA as a Board member. It will be a great adventure for me to be on the Board of Directors and to become even more involved with the membership as a whole. There is a certain honor in joining such a wonderful, hard-working group of professionals and helping to guide our Wisconsin reporters through the many issues which lay ahead.
On a personal note, I'm a 1983 court reporting graduate from Gateway Tech. I began my career working as a freelance reporter in the Fox Valley and since 1997 have been an official reporter for Judge Schmidt in Winnebago County. At this time, I hold the RPR and RMR, but I'm striving for the realtime certification -- now with gusto ! Most recently, I joined Roberta Bitler on the "Making the Record" committee headed up by Mr. John Voelker, State Courts Director. My thanks to all official reporters who met with John and spoke on behalf of you and your Judges.
As one of the newest Board members, I urge each of you to "reach out and touch" a court reporter not presently a WCRA member and convince them that there's strength in numbers and that every voice counts. For starters, we're facing the emergence of DAR in our courtrooms and the many issues relating to that. Let's work together and have one strong, united voice.
Thanks again. I hope to see you this spring in Appleton for our WCRA convention!