HOUSE RESOLUTION CONGRATULATING AND RECOGNIZING THE MEMBERS AND COACH OF THE WHEELER SCHOOL TEAM ON THEIR 1ST PLACE VICTORY AT THE 43RD RHODE ISLAND ACADEMIC DECATHLON AND CONGRATULATING THE TEAM ON THEIR SUCCESS AT THE , the official text

H8552 2026 -- H 8552 ======== LC006144 ======== STATE OF RHODE ISLAND IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026 ____________ H O U S E R E S O L U T I O N CONGRATULATING AND RECOGNIZING THE MEMBERS AND COACH OF THE WHEELER SCHOOL TEAM ON THEIR 1ST PLACE VICTORY AT THE 43RD RHODE ISLAND ACADEMIC DECATHLON AND CONGRATULATING THE TEAM ON THEIR SUCCESS AT THE NATIONAL ACADEMIC DECATHLON ON APRIL 23-25, 2026 Introduced By: Representatives Solomon, Blazejewski, Kazarian, Casimiro, Casey, Chippendale, O Brien, DeSimone, McNamara, and McEntee Date Introduced: May 14, 2026 Referred To: House read and passed 1 WHEREAS, The Rhode Island Academic Decathlon was co-founded by John Howell, 2 publisher of the Warwick Beacon, in December of 1983, and is open to all public, private and 3 parochial high schools in Rhode Island; and 4 WHEREAS, This rigorous competition tests the brain power and overall knowledge and 5 thinking skills of high school entrants from across the State in ten subject areas ranging from art 6 to math, as well as economics, essay, interview, language and literature, music, science, social 7 science, and speech; and 8 WHEREAS, The 43rd annual Rhode Island Academic Decathlon was held on March 1, 9 2026, at Bryant University, with seventeen Rhode Island high schools and more than 200 students 10 competing. The Decathlon included both a team competition component and also awards Gold, 11 Silver, and Bronze medals to distinguished individuals for their outstanding achievements; and 12 WHEREAS, The theme for this year s Academic Decathlon was “The Roaring 13 Twenties”, and it focused on the history, culture, and rapid changes that occurred in the 1920s, 14 across ten subject categories; and 15 WHEREAS, The Wheeler School repeated as Rhode Island Academic Decathlon 16 Champions in 2026. Members of the winning team included Chichi Minami, Philip Spradlin, 17 Daniel Shea, Angela D’Amico, Kiara Jin, Austin Nolan, Amelia Collins, Thomas Hutchinson and 18 Shay Smith. The Wheeler team was superbly led by Coach Dayna Cueva Alegria; and 1 WHEREAS, The Senior Gold Medal winners at the 43rd Rhode Island Academic 2 Decathlon were Donovan Turner from Classical High School, Saige Hodges and Sydney Pavao 3 from Coventry High School, Kristi Prestly from Cranston West High School, Rosalind Bassen- 4 Alexander and Savanna Tickner from East Greenwich High School, Amir Depina from North 5 Providence High School, Preston Maong from South Kingstown High School, Jaylene Le from 6 Toll Gate High School, and Thomas Hutchinson, Chichi Minami, and Philip Spradlin from the 7 Wheeler School; and 8 WHEREAS, At the National Academic Decathlon finals, Wheeler School team member 9 Daniel Shea earned a Gold Medal in Science, a Silver Medal in Essay and a Bronze Medal in 10 Math, and fellow team member Philip Spradlin earned a Silver Medal in Math; and 11 WHEREAS, It is fitting and essential to recognize our youth and to celebrate their 12 accomplishments. The Wheeler School team members exemplify everything that young people 13 can achieve, and they are truly deserving of our recognition and praise; now, therefore be it 14 RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby 15 congratulates the Wheeler School team and their coach on their repeat victory at the 2026 Rhode 16 Island Academic Decathlon; and be it further 17 RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to 18 transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Dayna Cueva Alegria, Coach of the Decathlon 19 Team for the Wheeler School. ======== LC006144 ======== LC006144 - Page 2 of 2