In a practice inspired by late Warwick Representative Paul Sherlock about 30 years ago, Warwick Representative and Speaker of the House K. Joseph Shekarchi will present $500 scholarships to the 11 high school seniors who won gold medal in the 2024 Rhode Island Academic Decathlon May 21 at the State House.

The seniors are from seven of the 15 schools that competed in the daylong competition hosted March 3 by Bryant University. A first time team winner in the competition, North Kingstown High School will represent the Ocean State April 25-27 at the United States Academic Decathlon being held in Pittsburgh.

The medalists and the North Kingstown team will be recognized by both the House and Senate on May 21.

Some seniors winning scholarships medaled in more than one subject area. They will receive a single scholarship. Seniors winning scholarships, their schools and the subject(s) in which they medaled are: Benjamin Dusseault - Bishop Hendricken HS (Literature); Avary Van - Classical HS (Economics); Avery Kuznar - East Greenwich HS (Music, Interview); Lucas Meier - North Kingstown HS (Science); Artur Porto - North Kingstown HS (Economics); Jacob Heyder - North Providence HS (Music); Oluwadamilola Odekunle - North Providence HS (Science, Social Science); Dylan Waddell - South Kingstown HS (Economics); Daniel Wheeler - South Kingstown HS (Economics); Andrew Haggerty - South Kingstown HS (Music) and Ja’Quan Burrill - Toll Gate HS (Social Science).

In a statement released this week, Shekarchi said, “The Academic Decathlon is a great learning experience for so many of Rhode Island’s brightest and most talented students.  For the last several years, the House of Representatives has been proud to sponsor scholarships for deserving senior gold medal winners to continue their education in college.  The decathlon competition certainly helps prepare them for the rigorous challenges they will face at their chosen institutes of higher education.”

The first Rhode Island Academic Decathlon dates back to December of 1983 when more than 30 high schools teams came together at the Knight Campus of CCRI. In the spring of that year, the Academic Decathlon that had its start in Bolsa Grande, California in 1968 extended an invitation to schools across the country to participate in the United States Academic Decathlon.

Bishop Hendricken took up the challenge and returned with several individual medals that sparked the interest of local educators to form a state organization and run a state competition. The event where teams of comprised of students with A, B and C grade point averages compete in ten subject areas including speech and interview was the brainchild of Dr. Robert Peterson as a prisoner of war in Nazi Germany. But it wasn’t until 1968 when Peterson was a superintendent of schools did the dream become reality.

Rhode Island corporate, legislative, school and community leaders came together to build the state organization that has successfully run a state competition annually ever since, including 2020 before the state was shut down by the pandemic.  Rhode Island has hosted two national competitions, bringing in teams from across the country as well as foreign countries.

Teams are already setting sights on next year’s decathlon that will be hosted by Bryant University on Sunday, March 2.