Baton Rouge School of Court Reporting

 

OWNERS/DIRECTORS

Baton Rouge School of Court Reporting, LLC (BRSCR) is owned and operated by Ms. Karen Vornkahl and Ms. Pamela Giardina.  Together they have over 55 years of service in the legal/court reporting field in multi-faceted areas.  Both Karen and Pam are Nationally Certified Reporting Instructors.  Below is a brief profile on each owner. 

 

Karen Vornkahl, B.S., CCR, CRI, is an Owner and the Director of Administration at BRSCR.  She has been a practicing court reporter since 1985 and holds a current certificate with the Louisiana Board of Examiners of Certified Shorthand Reporters.  In 2003, she took a leave from active reporting to pursue additional training in realtime machine writing.  She has reported thousands of depositions, taught academics relating to court reporting, and is co-owner of ASAP Transcripts, LLC, a scoping and proofing firm assisting court reporters and mentoring new reporters in the field. 

She has attained Certified Reporting Instructor (CRI) credentials and been published in CaseLines, a teaching publication of the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA).  She has also qualified to grade certification skills testing for the NCRA.

She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Office Administration from Louisiana State University (1979).   She is married to Mark Vornkahl, a computer systems consultant, and has two grown children. 

 

Pamela Giardina, B.S., CRI, CPE is an Owner and the Director of Curriculum and Student Affairs at BRSCR.  She is a retired Certified Court Reporter (CCR) in the state of Louisiana.  Her career began in the 1970s in the 19^th Judicial District Court as a judiciary reporter.  She went on to own and operate two successful freelance court reporting firms in the ‘80s and through the mid ‘90s.  Over the course of her professional reporting life, she has reported thousands of depositions, in addition to hearings, arbitrations, and judiciary proceedings.  She has also been a part of school administration at Parkview Baptist School, elementary and middle school levels, as well as Assistant Director of a local court reporting college prior to opening BRSCR. 

She is currently retired from active practice but has gone on to attain national certification as a Certified Reporting Instructor, as well as national certification as a Certified Program Evaluator in order that she may pursue a second career in mentoring and teaching upcoming students in her chosen field.  She also holds a Bachelor of Science degree from LSU with focus on areas of Criminal Justice and English. 

She is also currently a co-owner of ASAP Transcripts, LLC, a firm dedicated to the efficient transcription of court proceedings, arbitrations, hearings, depositions.  The firm works with reporters in four states and trains new reporters for firm owners as well. 

She is married to Keith Giardina, a practicing Baton Rouge attorney, and they have five children, four sons and a daughter, ranging in ages from 16 to 22.

Mark H. Vornkahl, B.S., CMR, CNA, MCSE, is our Director of Information and Technology.  He is a graduate of LSU in Business Administration/Marketing.  After working five years in the insurance/finance industry, Mark worked for nine years as a detail representative for a major U.S. pharmaceutical company, calling on physicians and related healthcare providers.  Mark earned the Certified Medical Representative (CMR) designation in 1989.  Mark is approved to instruct in Medical Terminology for BRSCR. 

Additionally, Mark earned an associates degree in electronics technology from ITI and worked six years as a computer engineer for a local software development company.  Most recently, Mark is the principal of Mark H. Vornkahl Consulting, providing computer and technological services to clients around the U.S.  He holds numerous certifications through Microsoft and Novell.  Mark is the director of information and technology for BRSCR and teaches and supports all areas of computer applications.

Mark is married to Karen Vornkahl, has two grown children, and a border collie named Maggie. 

 

Dana Bannerman, B.S., M.Ed., is our Director of Accreditation and Standards.  Dana Bannerman has been in the field of education for 32 years.  She holds a bachelor’s degree from Centenary College and a M.Ed. from LSU.  Dana taught for twenty years in Ascension Parish and eight years at Parkview Baptist School.  Her most recent endeavor was to begin a middle school at St. Luke’s Episcopal School from the ground up as the middle school coordinator.  She has taught a variety of ages and subject matter, with her specialty being in the areas of language arts and math.  She has served on various accrediting teams and committees with SACS and SAES.  Dana is also on the Louisiana State Council of the National Beta Club.   

Dana is married to her husband, Bruce.  They have two grown children – Blair, who is married and is a chemical engineer here in Baton Rouge, and Chris, who works for Warner Brothers in Los Angeles. 

 

AD HOC INSTRUCTORS

Keith Giardina, B.S., J.D., has been a practicing attorney in the state of Louisiana for over 20 years.  His specialties include:  Insurance Defense Litigation, Training, General Law Practice, Appeals, Consultations and Administrative Business Procedures.   

His education and training include a Juris Doctorate degree from Loyola University in 1981, as well as a Bachelor of Science cum laude from Southeastern Louisiana University in 1977.  He has also obtained a teaching certification from Harvard School of Law sponsored by the National Institute of Trial Advocacy.   

Keith is a member of the Louisiana State Bar and admitted to practice in the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal, United States District Court Middle District, Eastern District, and Western District.  He is a Trial Advocacy Instructor (NITA) for a major insurance carrier and has also served as a professor ad hoc at Louisiana State University School of Law.  He has recently been accepted into the American Board of Trial Advocates.   

Keith is the instructor for our Legal Terminology/Case Law class. 

 

Gloria Taillon is the owner and originator of Computer-Aided Interpretation (CAI), a company providing Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) services in Louisiana since 1996.  She and her employees work with individuals with disabilities and the administrative authorities to provide realtime captioning and supply verbatim notes when requested.  The firm has continuously provided services for state colleges, universities, business colleges, and numerous statewide administrative organizations.  In addition, the firm has displayed realtime captioning for various other functions such as conventions, seminars, forums, mayoral debates, governor’s inauguration, a wedding, teleconferences and both on-line and off-line captioning for the Louisiana Public Broadcasting station.  Additionally, her company also provides medical transcription services for several doctors in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, area.   The CAI website is www.cainterp.com.

In addition to the successful operation of CAI, Ms. Taillon is extremely active in Louisiana Youth Leadership Forum and The Battered Women's Program; also, the Louisiana Council on Child Abuse, YWCA, Volunteer for Rape Crisis Center, Nurturing Program, Earl K. Long Young Mothers, Reality House, Family Support, Prevent Child Abuse in Louisiana and the Quota Club.  She is a member of the NCRA and was nominated for the U.S. President’s Award in 1985 and for Entrepreneur of the Year for 1997. 

Ms. Taillon is the instructor for our CART-CAPTIONING Practice Applications course.

 

STAFF MEMBERS

Lori Beckman, Day/Night Program.  Mrs. Beckman is a graduate of Bay Path College with an Associates Degree in Paralegal Studies and is also a graduate of BRSCR in the Court Reporting Program.  

She has worked professionally as a paralegal, legal secretary, and CART provider for a college student.  She has been married to her husband Greg for nine years.  Lori originally hails from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and has lived with her family in Baton Rouge for the past six years.

Mrs. Beckman provides expertise in working with our CART students on a daily basis and is our Speed Plus/Drills reader.

 

Lynda Progler, Night Program.  She holds two AAS degrees, one in Legal Secretarial Science and one in Advertising, Design & Illustration.   She is a student at BRSCR in a dual-track curriculum of Court Reporting and CART-Captioning. 

Mrs. Progler was born in Houston but grew up in the suburbs of Chicago.  She worked in various law firms in downtown Chicago and the suburbs for almost 20 years as a legal secretary/paralegal.  She has also designed several book covers and has illustrated  books.  Lynda moved to Louisiana when her husband, Mike, a mechanical engineer, took a job with Entergy.  They have two beloved Westies, Biscuit & Dallas.

Mrs. Progler works with our Night Students as our Speed Plus/Drills reader, and also is chief editor of the school newspaper, The Reporter.

 

Matt Evans, Night Program.  Matt is a 2007 graduate of Hillsong International Leadership College, in Sydney, Australia, with a Diploma in Ministry, Pastoral Leadership.  His passion is working with youth, and he aspires to become a Youth Pastor.  He is engaged to Miss Fabiola Lopez, also a 2008 graduate of Hillsong International Leadership College in Sydney, Australia, with a Diploma in Ministry.

Matt is a Q&A reader in our Night School Program. 

 

Casey Evans, Administrative Office.  Casey is in his third year in the Business College at Louisiana State University and is a graduate of Parkview Baptist High School. 

Casey is the Data Entry Specialist for BRSCR.  He has been a staff member since our school’s inception. 

 

Cindy Booth, Administrative Office.  She is a 1992 graduate of Louisiana State University, Paralegal Studies Program.  She is currently enrolled in BRSCR’s Court Reporting Program of Study. 

She has been married to Richard Booth for 15 years, and they have two children, Brennan and Grace.

Mrs. Booth holds the position of Assistant to Mrs. Karen Vornkahl, our Director of Administration.   She is one of the editors for our school newspaper, as well as being a Day Reader.

 

Krystal Pitre, Administrative Office.  She is currently enrolled in BRSCR’s CART-Captioning Program and aspires to work with disabled clients to ensure they have a successful career opportunity in their college studies by providing CART services to them.

She has one son, Cameron, who is the love of her life. 

Ms. Pitre holds the position of Executive Assistant to Mrs. Pam Giardina, our Director of Curriculum and Student Affairs. 

 

Baton Rouge School of Court Reporting is proud to have been recognized and granted status as a Participating Court Reporter Training Program with the National Court Reporters Association.

Send mail to webmaster@brscr.com with questions or comments about this web site. Web Services by Mark H. Vornkahl Consulting Copyright © 2006 Baton Rouge School of Court Reporting, LLC Last modified: 07/28/2008 All third-party products and services listed herein are registered trademarks of their respective companies.