HOUSE RESOLUTION CONGRATULATING THE WINNERS OF THE 2026 14TH ANNUAL PROSTART® HIGH SCHOOL COMPETITION AND WISHING THEM SUCCESS AT THE NATIONAL PROSTART® INVITATIONAL

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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026
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H O U S E R E S O L U T I O N
CONGRATULATING THE WINNERS OF THE 2026 14TH ANNUAL PROSTART® HIGH
SCHOOL COMPETITION AND WISHING THEM SUCCESS AT THE NATIONAL
PROSTART® INVITATIONAL

Introduced By:
Representatives Solomon, Cotter, Shekarchi, Blazejewski, Spears,
Kennedy, Chippendale, Hopkins, Casey, and Boylan

Date Introduced:
April 09, 2026

Referred To:
House read and passed
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WHEREAS, ProStart® is “a two-year hospitality career-building program designed by
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the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation” with an enrollment of nearly 800
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Rhode Island students and an additional 400 students enrolled in the Hospitality & Tourism
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Management program, designed by the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute’s
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(AHLEI) which is also a two-year, turnkey high school curriculum; and
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WHEREAS, The Rhode Island Hospitality Education Foundation (RIHEF) hosted the
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2026 14th Annual Rhode Island High School Culinary Arts, Foodservice & Hotel Management
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Competition in February, with ten local teams competing for scholarships and prizes, and the
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opportunity to represent Rhode Island in the 2026 National ProStart® Invitational in Baltimore,
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Maryland from April 24th - 26th, 2026; and
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WHEREAS, The annual event features three competitive categories: Culinary Arts,
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Foodservice Management, and Hospitality Tourism Management, with more than thirty local
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hospitality industry professionals serving as judges; and
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WHEREAS, The top competitors represented Chariho Career and Technical Center
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(CHARIHOTech), Newport Area Career and Technical Center, Warwick Area Career and
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Technical Center, William M. Davies, Jr. Career and Technical High School and Woonsocket
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Area Career and Technical Center; and
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WHEREAS, Rhode Island’s First Place Culinary Arts Team, hailed from the Warwick
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Area Career and Technical Center includes Instructor Eva Niosi, and winning students Anthony

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Morales, Richard Desmarais, Tyler Hartley and Liam McGloin; and
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WHEREAS, The First Place Foodservice Management Team also hailed from the
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Warwick Area Career and Technical Center, includes Instructor Austin Irons and winning
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students Jailyn Huffman, Giana Gioffreda, Alexiana Medeiros, Anissa Gill, and Liliana
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Lunsmann; and
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WHEREAS, The First Place Hospitality & Tourism Management Team, hailed from the
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Chariho Career and Technical Center, includes instructor Donald Fair and winning students Rosie
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Sposato, Logan Berdos, Maddie Niewiecki, and Lilyana Juneau; and
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WHEREAS, The winning Culinary Arts and Foodservice Management Teams will now
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advance to compete at the 2026 National ProStart® Invitational on April 24th - 26th, 2026, where
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they will represent not only their respective schools, but also the State of Rhode Island; now,
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therefore be it
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RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby
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extends enthusiastic congratulations to the Warwick Area Career and Technical Center, the
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Chariho Career and Technical Center, their instructors, and their students on winning the 2026
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Rhode Island ProStart® High School Competition, and wishes them the very best of luck at the
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National ProStart® Invitational in Baltimore, MD; and be it further
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RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to
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transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to Warwick Area Career and Technical Center and
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the Chariho Career and Technical Center.
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