|
|
|
|
President: 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.
 President-Elect: Karla Sommer
I am the Branch 2 Official Court Reporter in Wausau, Marathon County. I also provide CART services, when needed, for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. My husband and I have been married for 23 years. Our daughter is a sophomore at UW-Madison, and our son is a junior at Wausau East High School.
My career as a court reporter began 26 years ago!! Over the years I have worked as a freelance reporter, official reporter, CART provider, and captioner. I am a Registered Professional Reporter, Registered Merit Reporter, Certified Realtime Reporter, and a Certified Broadcast Captioner. I am also very proud to say I am the winner of the 2009 and 2011 WCRA Realtime Contests, as well as the winner of the 2012 Grand Connections Realtime Contest.
In 2005 I volunteered to be the WCRA Convention Coordinator. During my years of service, not only did I have the opportunity to plan two great "parties" a year for you, our members, but I also had the privilege of personally meeting and working with many of you. It was a very personally rewarding and learning experience for me. I now take on the position of WCRA President-Elect. WCRA has given me many opportunities in the past to learn and grow as a reporter, so it is my pleasure to now give back to an association and profession that has given so much to me. I look forward to working you you all!!
|
|
|
|
 Immediate Past 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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Treasurer: 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!
|
|
 |
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!
|
|
|
Director: Lindsay DeWaide (One-Year Term)
First of all, I want to thank those who elected me to the board. Special thanks go to Chris and Mary for all their encouragement and support. I feel honored to serve and I look forward to what lied ahead.
I graduated from the court reporting program at MATC in December 2008. I immediately began doing per diem in circuit court, working for a number of judges in a number of counties. I gained invaluable work experience and met many people along the way who have become great friends. in June of 2009 I began working for Gramann Reporting and entered the world of freelance.
I live in Poynette, WI, with my husband, Damon. We have two wonderful children and two (sometimes) wonderful cats.
Thank you once again for giving me this opportunity. I am proud to serve on the Board of Directors for WFiCRA and to be a part of an association that has done so much for each of us and for our profession as a whole.
|
Director: Judy Zickert (Two-Year Term)
First and foremost, I want to say thank you to those who nominated me and for your vote of confidence in electing me to the board. I look forward to serving WCRA members in this capacity.
I freelanced with Northwestern Court Reporters in Hudson, WI for four years and in Eau Claire for ten years. In 2003 I moved to the official side and began to work for the Honorable John Damon in Trempealeau County and continue there to this day. I have my RMR as well as CRR. I have also served as one of WCRA's convention planners the last two years.
On a personal note, I live in Neillsville with my husband Kevin and my daughter Bekkah, along with Macy, Rio (dogs) & Pat (the cat). I enjoy outdoor recreational activities such as gardening, downhill & cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, camping, hiking & bicycling.
As a member of the board, I invite anyone to contact me with any concerns, questions, or suggestions they may have concerning our profession.
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: Sheri Piontek (2-year Term)
My name is Sheri Piontek and I am an official reporter in Green Bay, Wisconsin. I graduated from Kenosha Technical College in 1980. I started my career off by getting certified in both Wisconsin and Illinois. For the first couple of years I freelanced for a firm in Kenosha and then I did per diem work in the court system in the counties of Kenosha, Racine, and Milwaukee. My goal was to become an official, and after several interviews, I accepted an officialship at the Brown County Courthouse in Green Bay, Wisconsin where I have been ever since.
On October 4, 2012, I will be an official for 30 years. Oh, how the time seems to fly by! I have worked for three judges so far: Judge Charles Kuehn, Judge Peter Naze, and now Judge Marc Hammer. I am a RPR, RMR, and CRR. I have had the experience of doing many jury trials, some of which have been highly publicized: the Margaret Anderson case which had 5 or 6 defendants, all of them convicted; and the John Maloney case, which was a 9-day trial. I've done a 3-week medical malpractice jury trial and many, many criminal jury trials over the years.
As far as me personally, I grew up in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. I have a twin sister, another sister, and two brothers, all who live in different parts of Wisconsin and one in South Carolina. I moved up to Green Bay for the job, and after several years I met my husband, Kevin, and we had two children, Jacob, 22, and Emily, 18. I've recently gotten divorced and am now starting another chapter of my life. I enjoy going to my cabin up in Lakewood, Wisconsin, traveling whenever I can, and I have a little bit of artistic talent as I love to sew, knit, crochet, and to tackle new projects.
Over the years I've mentored quite a few students, one of which is the Board's very own Jessie Waack. I've always enjoyed helping recent graduates get off on a good foot because I remember when I graduated it was like being thrown into the job market without any tools or a set of instructions to use as a guide. I think it helps ease them into their new surroundings.
I'd like to serve on the Board because I know so many of the officials and freelancers in our state that I feel I could represent everyone's interests at the meetings, conventions, and in social gatherings to help spread the word of everything that WCRA represents.
Director: Lynette Swenson
Director: Monica Hunkins (Two-Year Term)
Thank you for the opportunity you have given me to serve on the Board.
I am in my seventh year as a court reporter. I hold an RPR designation. All of my seven years as a court reporter have been spent as a freelance reporter; although, I have worked as a per diem reporter for the local courthouses on occasion. I can honestly say that I truly love my job. Sure, there are a few days here and there where I would love to press the "Rewind" or "Do Over" button (if there was such a thing), but those days are far outnumbered by the days where I drive home happily satisfied with the people I work with and the job I have done.
On a personal note, I grew up in Wauwatoma, WI. I have lived in Almond for the last 15 years. My husband and I have four children: Jim, 21; Morgan, 17; Christina, 17; and Jesse, 14. In my spare time, I love reading, camping, watching movies, scrapbooking, and shopping.
My immediate goals are to obtain my CRR and RMR designations. I look forward to serving on the Board for the next two years and working with the other Board members.
Committed to Excellence 
