Students and faculty at Brown College of Court Reporting (BCCR) in Atlanta, Ga., held a number of events throughout the week to celebrate 2018 Court Reporting & Captioning Week held Feb. 10-16.
An open house kicked off the week to showcase the profession to prospective students. Attendees were given a tour of the facility, learned how to type a few words on a steno machine, and heard first hand from program graduates about what it is like to work in the field.
The college also held a friendly student competition with a game dubbed, “Grammar Jam.” The Jeopardy style game had students team up to answer questions in several categories including current events, spelling, punctuation, definitions, medical and legal terminology, and court reporting procedures questions. Prizes were provided by Janice S. Baker & Associates and US Legal Support.
The winning team of students included: Thomas Pacheco; Kimesha Smith Stallworth; Andrew Shin; Connor Tatham; and Cindi Drakeford.
Guest speaker Vickie Wiechec, CCR, a past president of the Georgia Court Reporters and Captioners Association, visited the college to talk to more than 70 students on campus and online about the captioning and CART profession, and gave them several takeaways to consider for anyone considering entering the field.
A second guest speaker during the week was Magistrate Judge, Jennifer Mann, who talked to students about the High School Mock Trial competition and Georgia high school participants’ successful history in competition on the national level. She encouraged all BCCR students to participate as court reporters duringseveral rounds that took place in early March at the Gwinnett County Court House. BCCR has been participating in mock trial competitions for the last few years and recently reported that several students participated in the latest competition.
Debbie Kriegshauser, CRR, RMR, an official court reporter at the federal level from St. Louis, Mo., also spoke with students on campus and online about the state of the industry, the importance of certifications, and the importance of finishing school. She not only encouraged students to finish the program, she brought several books from the NCRA Store to give away to campus and online students.
