Fall-winter Newsletter 2009

FALL/WINTER NEWSLETTER 2009 Greetings from Mary Ellen Arce, Admissions Coordinator As the holidays approach and we begin to worry about friends, families, gifts, get-togethers, etc., life can get rather overwhelming. Although this is the time of year that we tend to reach out and help others, remember that the best gift you can give is a gift to yourself. It is a gift that is truly special and worth its weight in gold. It is affordable, it does not need gift wrap, you will have it forever, and it will never go out of style. How about changing your life? Taking the bull by the horns and finally doing something that you love and that will allow you the opportunity to make a six-figure salary. That’s right, a new career for you! It is quite evident that many of you are feeling the need for change, as our January 2010 class is beginning to fill as rapidly as it did last year. A new year, a new career, and StenoTech is proud to be part of all of your achievements and New Year’s resolutions! The next few months are going to fly by and January will be here before we know it. If you are not yet convinced that court reporting is virtually recession-proof and the way to a sixincome salary, then check out our open house and hear it from people actually working in the industry. If you have already done your research and are ready to embark on the career of a lifetime, then please contact me ASAP. Space is limited. Our September classes were at maximum capacity; and while we are currently working on expansion plans, January’s classes will definitely be on a first-come/first-served basis. The application deadline is January 18th. That means that all students must have applied and tested by this date. I hope to hear from you!

On behalf of myself and the entire staff of StenoTech Career Institute, I am wishing a happy and healthy holiday season to you and yours.

New Teacher on Campus

Financial Aid Updates

StenoTech would like to welcome a new member to our staff. Rosemary Hilbert has been involved in education both as a professor and as the Assistant Education Director of Business Operations for Eastwick College. She holds both a bachelor of arts degree in English Literature and a master of arts degree in Liberal Studies from Caldwell College in Caldwell, New Jersey. Rosemary is a member of many professional associations and has participated in numerous training seminars, including PCSA’s Educational Approaches of the 21st Century. She is also a certified EMT and was awarded the Richard Freeman Academic Achievement Award for attaining the highest grade in the class on the New Jersey OEMS state certification exam. Rosemary will join StenoTech as an academic instructor at both campuses, teaching keyboarding, English courses, medical and legal terminology. Welcome, Ms. Hilbert. We are delighted to have you on board!

Our September start was a huge success with almost 60 new students enrolling! Our “newbies” are catching on quickly and appear to be loving every minute of their new endeavour. If you happen to have missed the September start, just remember that January is right around the corner. Please keep in mind that one of the key benefits to starting in January is that it means more financial aid!! Students who are eligible for Pell grants will receive the full award even though the financial aid year ends in June. The Department of Education has also increased the loan amounts for all grade levels by $2000 per student. This is good news for all “independent” students who are not eligible for Pell grants. Even without the assistance of grants, students who qualify for financial aid will find that their tuition will be covered by federal loans. To obtain more detailed information, contact Jean Diamond, FAA, at our main campus (888-783-6685).

FAIRFIELD CAMPUS NEWS Graduate Update Graduate Jessica Loschky recently emailed president and campus director, Jean Melone, with some exciting news: Hi Jean, how are you?! I'm doing well. I wanted to share my experience with you that I had yesterday with court reporting. I thought you would appreciate it. I work in Philadelphia now. I had a job at the National Constitution Center. I had to report a board meeting, chairman being President Clinton! It was a board of maybe 30 members, all of which were senators, governors, lawyers, judges, bankers. That evening the Liberty Medal was awarded to Steven Spielberg. I had to report the ceremony. Whoopi Goldberg was there. It was truly an amazing experience that I wanted to share with you since you, the teachers, and your wonderful school are the reason I got to experience something like this. Thank you so much!! You're appreciated more than you know. I attached a picture!! The other two gentlemen in the picture are Governor Rendell of Pennsylvania and Dikembe Mutombo. He is a retired basketball player that played for the Nets, 76ers, and Rockets. He was one of the board members. Haha! I don't think I need to point out in the picture which one is which. And, no, he wasn't standing on anything! I had heels on, too. I was afraid his head didn't get in the picture. : ) I'm working for Varallo, Incorporated. Have you heard of them? They're in Philly. I love this agency. It's a family-owned agency for 50 years. They keep me very busy with great work, not like this usually. I'm so grateful that they asked me to do this job.

Marc Goldberg was the featured speaker at a recent party honoring graduates and “level-uppers.” Marc is a StenoTech graduate and director of sales at the Veritext firm of Doerner & Goldberg, a court reporting agency established by Marc’s dad in the early ’70s. In addition to sharing his personal experiences as both a student and working reporter, Marc gave the students some valuable tips and kept the comments lively and humorous. The following students were recognized for leveling up since June: To 125 wpm Travis Fagan Charity McKinnon Lindsay Pong Eileen Sien Deneé Vadell To 150 wpm Lisa Graziano

To 175 wpm Mona Lieberman Christian Salazar To 200 wpm Lynn Forrest To 225 wpm Lynore D’Ambrosio Candice Galarza Denise Iradi

StenEd certificates of achievement were presented to the following students from our January and May classes who have now successfully completed theory and passed their 60 Literary Test: Susan Barsky, Vivian Bratmeyer, Carolyn Crescio, Jill Evans, and Darlene Makula. We wish them “happy fingers” on their journey to 225!!!

The entire StenoTech teaching staff – and especially Mrs. O’Hagan – want to recognize the efforts of Susan Barsky, of our May 2009 theory class, for her many hours of data entry of steno outline updates to the Eclipse Lesson Player tutorial software used by theory students. They comprise modifications to our realtime theory that have been developed and tested over the past five years by JoAnn Haberkorn, Piscataway theory instructor. Now both campuses are uniformly providing theory instruction that incorporates these changes, and students have the benefit of their use when doing theory reinforcement drills. We thank Susan for her dedication and perfectionism in completing this laborious task. Our “Trish” Pucciarello is now a working freelance reporter. Trish says she’s really busy and absolutely loves her work. We honored Trish at our most recent level-up party. In the audience were Trish’s dad and sister, beaming with pride as she shared her recent on-thejob experiences as a new reporter. Two thumbs up for a young lady who never gave up in turning her dreams into reality!! Cudos to Lynore D’Ambrosio, who has made tremendous progress. StenoTech’s self-paced program allowed her to return to court reporting studies after several years of raising a family, absorbing our “realtime” theory as part of the September 2008 theory class, and then doing a hop-skip-and-jump through 5 speed levels to arrive at the 225 doorstep in a year’s time. Many current and former students sat for the November 7th RPR exam, given at both Fairfield and Piscataway campuses. We wish them all good results! Good luck to our moms-to-be, Denee Vadell and Patrice Randall, who will hopefully be back in the seat soon after a brief maternity leave. Speaking of babies … our director, Jean Melone, is delighted to announce the birth of her second grandchild, who surprised everyone with an early arrival on October 1st. Jake is the son of Mrs. Melone’s daughter, Jennifer, who just celebrated her first wedding anniversary on October 5th! He joins his little cousin Jason Jr., who is almost 19 months old. The Melones have much to be thankful for this holiday season. And Mrs. Melone is now doing a super juggling act as dedicated school owner, part-time instructor, loving wife, alwaysavailable mom, and doting grandma…and enjoying every minute of the challenge!

PISCATAWAY CAMPUS NEWS As always, there is lots of hustle and bustle in Piscataway… and entertainment also. Who would think? You might actually attend school for court reporting and become an American Idol as well! JoAnn Haberkorn is the director of our Piscataway campus and believes the students should work hard and have fun as well. The first round of lunchtime entertainment was scheduled for November 18th,. All students were encouraged to come out and perform, and the results will be out in our next newsletter. At this writing, Jonathan Haldelman is scheduled to play guitar, Donna Carotenuto will be performing her vocal rendition of Tina Turner’s Private Dancer, Ketly Dorelus will be baton-twirling, and Jonathon Shambaugh will be doing his juggling act. Calling all talent…. bring it on!! Let’s see what ‘ya got!

Congratulations to all of our Halloween door-decorating contest winners:

First Place:

Room 102 VR-Prep & VR-I

Second Place:

Room 103 Theory

Honorable Mention:

Room 101 – VR-II Room 105 – VR-IV, V

Best Costume:

Sydney Crawford, dressed as a McDonald’s shake.

Mrs. Haberkorn is not only the director of the campus but is also the theory instructor. Each week she holds a “readback” contest. Any student who can read back the selected piece correctly without error receives a free pack of steno paper. The first two winners were Nechama Benjamin and Stephanie McElroy, who gave perfect readbacks at 40 and 60 wpm. Keep up the practice, theory students!

HOLIDAY / STUDENT APPRECIATION PARTIES

Piscataway Campus: Tuesday, December 15, at 10:30 a.m. Fairfield Campus: Thursday, December 17, at 11:15 a.m. Guest speaker: Lauren Schecter, CSR and Owner of TotalCaption GRADUATES ARE INVITED – PLEASE RSVP BY MONDAY, DEC. 14

DECEMBER OPEN HOUSES Please join us for our Winter Open House this December. If you have not already received an invite, please use the form below. Our open houses are informative and fun. Guest speakers will share their insight with you as well give a short realtime presentation. We look forward to seeing you!

Please Join Us for our

Winter Open House Tuesday, December 1, 2009 6:30 p.m.

Thursday, December 10, 2009 6:30 p.m.

StenoTech Career Institute Fairfield Campus 20 Just Road - 2nd Floor Fairfield, NJ 07004

StenoTech Career Institute Piscataway Campus 262 Old New Brunswick Road Piscataway, NJ 08854

To reserve a seat for you and a guest, please call Mary Ellen Arce at (888) 783-6685 Forms may be faxed to (973) 882-6101 *****Light refreshments to be served***** (You can enter your information below and fax to the number above)

Name of Candidate: Contact Phone:

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Number of Guests: Guest Name(s): I will attend the open house at the following campus: Fairfield Piscataway Program of Interest (“x” all that apply): Realtime Court Reporting Medical Transcription

Court Reporter Scoping Medical Text Entry