The Dighton-Rehoboth Merits program is excited to announce the opening of its new store. On October 20th, in room 104, the Merits program held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate its grand opening. This opening represents more than a new school store; it shows student initiative, creativity, and collaboration with each other. This store not only benefits students but also showcases the support the program receives from the school. Tiffany Levesque had been a great help to this program and had really made it all come together.

The idea for this store fell into the hands of the program after student productions last year. Many of the kids involved with the program had been making arts and crafts over the course of last school year. The Merit program saw the passion of these handmade goods from the students and the love of them from people throughout the school. They knew it was time to expand. The Merits Program had been hard at work throughout last school year, the months of summer, and the start of this year, chipping away at the worthwhile achievement. Tiffany Levesque shared insight into the process and what was involved to bring this goal to life. Tiffany Levesque is best known as the transition coordinator and Merits Academy teacher, which gave her the opportunity to expand the academy. The first pillar of the project was finding a space to begin. After settling in room 104, the hard work began; over the summer the program spent time planning out a working space, cashier, and displays for the shop. They built furniture, decorated, and made the space flow together to what it is today. The profits from the store help to add benefits and funding to the program. While helping the program directly, it is also beneficial to the students. The store helps incorporate skills of creativity, mathematics, laws, profits, costs, spending, and much more for the students to learn and gain.

This is a huge and exciting achievement for our Merits program. With help from staff teachers and members of the program, they have been able to achieve this. But most importantly, a huge thanks to the hardworking students using their creativity and skills to positively impact the program                                                                                                              and execute such an amazing feat.