HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-1 WHEREAS, Members of the Friendswood High School Academic 1-2 Decathlon team recently captured their fifth consecutive state 1-3 championship in San Antonio at the annual Texas Academic Decathlon; 1-4 and 1-5 WHEREAS, Inaugurated in 1968 as a means of recognizing and 1-6 encouraging excellence in academic achievement, the Academic 1-7 Decathlon challenges students with a variety of subjects and 1-8 topics, including mathematics, science, social studies, economics, 1-9 fine arts, language, and grammar; team members must give a speech, 1-10 write an essay, and go through an interview as they compete for 1-11 team and individual awards; and 1-12 WHEREAS, Against a field of 20 Class 4A schools from across 1-13 the state, the Friendswood team collected 47 individual medals, 1-14 including 27 gold medals, and earned $24,000 in scholarship 1-15 funding; team members won all but one of the individual awards and 1-16 scored 30 out of 30 in the Super Quiz relay, an unprecedented feat; 1-17 and 1-18 WHEREAS, Team coaches Pepper Smith and Ruth Ann Krajefska 1-19 helped to successfully prepare their young competitors for the 1-20 team's fourth consecutive title defense; team members include 1-21 Reagan Murray, Brook Skeen, Gordon Davenport, Tommy Broughan, Josh 1-22 Hale, David Hayes, James Shead, and Jayme Temple and Eric 1-23 Steinhauser, both of whom participated in last year's victory; and 1-24 WHEREAS, The Academic Decathlon strives to include students 2-1 from a range of academic backgrounds, and, to this end, each 2-2 nine-member team is equally divided into "Honors," "Scholastic," 2-3 and "Varsity" divisions, representing students whose grade-point 2-4 averages fall into the "A," "B," and "C" categories, respectively; 2-5 and 2-6 WHEREAS, The importance of recognizing and rewarding academic 2-7 achievement cannot be overstated, and the members of the 2-8 legislature are proud to commend the Friendswood High School 2-9 Academic Decathlon team for continuing their school's long-standing 2-10 tradition of academic excellence; now, therefore, be it 2-11 RESOLVED, That the 75th Legislature of the State of Texas 2-12 hereby congratulate the members of the Friendswood High School 2-13 Academic Decathlon team on winning their fifth consecutive state 2-14 championship and extend to them sincere best wishes for continued 2-15 success and happiness in the years to come; and, be it further 2-16 RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be 2-17 prepared for the members of the team and their coaches as an 2-18 expression of high regard by the Texas House of Representatives and 2-19 Senate. Eiland _______________________________ _______________________________ President of the Senate Speaker of the House I certify that H.C.R. No. 213 was adopted by the House on May 2, 1997, by a non-record vote. _______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House I certify that H.C.R. No. 213 was adopted by the Senate on May 28, 1997, by a viva-voce vote. _______________________________ Secretary of the Senate APPROVED: _____________________ Date _____________________ Governor