The doors of Bluestem Mercantile opened for the first time Monday afternoon. The grocery and general store is not staffed by hired professionals. It is fully operated by students from the Bluestem school district.
“I wanted to have something on their resume that they can take from here and immediately go do something after high school” says Amie Oltman, a special education teacher for Bluestem USD.
Students of all backgrounds are going to play a role in the store, including those with special needs. All the students who work at Mercantile, will be gaining skills that will be valuable once they graduate.
“Count back money, cleaning, keeping stuff organized, inventory and how to do that,” according to Bluestem freshman Darrel Kurtz.
(Read more: KAKE – News)
