2024 -- S 2927

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LC005588

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2024

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

CONGRATULATING THE WINNERS OF THE 12TH ANNUAL PROSTART® HIGH

SCHOOL COMPETITION

     Introduced By: Senators LaMountain, E Morgan, DeLuca, Britto, Burke, Bissaillon,
Picard, Murray, Felag, and Bell

     Date Introduced: March 28, 2024

     Referred To: Recommended for Immediate Consideration

     WHEREAS, ProStart® is “a two-year hospitality career-building program designed by

the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation” with an enrollment of nearly 600

Rhode Island students. The Hospitality & Tourism Management program and the American Hotel

& Lodging Educational Institute is a two-year, turnkey high school curriculum with

approximately 100 additional students currently enrolled; and

     WHEREAS, Hosted by the RI Hospitality Education Foundation, the ProStart® High

School Competition is an annual event featuring three competitive areas, Culinary Arts,

Foodservice Management, and Hospitality Tourism Management; and

     WHEREAS, Forty-five high school culinary students from five Rhode Island schools

competed in the three areas, with more than fifty local industry professionals serving as judges.

At stake was nearly $1,000,000 in available scholarship money, to be shared among the winning

teams; and

     WHEREAS, The culinary team members from the Exeter Job Corps Academy, including

Armani Rios, Nikaya Garcia, Curiney Cain, Steven Sarabia, and Jakayla Steele, led by Chef

Instructor Mark Bennison, won the Culinary Arts portion of the competition; and

     WHEREAS, A foodservice management team from the Warwick Area Career and

Technical Center including Tyler Lowe, Bruce Angelini, Kate Whalen, and Victoria "Harper"

Salinas, led by Instructor Austin Irons won the Foodservice Management portion of the

competition; and

     WHEREAS, The hospitality tourism management team from CHARIHOTech including

Elinor Hammett, Gawin Apice, Juliet Costa, Olivia Swanson, and Morgan Allen, led by Instructor

Donald Fair won the Hospitality Tourism Management portion of the competition; and

     WHEREAS, Winning dishes and desserts from the competition will be featured at some

of Rhode Island’s finest restaurants, and winning culinary and foodservice management team

members will now advance to represent Rhode Island at the National Restaurant Association

Educational Foundation’s National ProStart® Invitational competition; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island hereby extends enthusiastic

congratulations to members of Exeter Job Corps Academy, the Warwick Area Career and

Technical Center, and CHARIHOTech on winning the ProStart High School Competition and

wishes Exeter and Warwick best of luck at the National Competition in Baltimore, MD, on April

26th through April 28th, 2024; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to Exeter Job Corps Academy, Warwick Area

Career and Technical Center, and CHARIHOTech.

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LC005588

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