Comet Corner reopens at Marion L. Steele High School

AMHERST — After a more than decadelong hiatus, the Amherst Comet Corner returns this school year to Marion L. Steele High School. For years the Comet Corner, run by the parent-teacher organization in a space near the auxiliary gym, was a one-stop shop for replacement school supplies, Comet apparel and snacks and candy for between — or sometimes during — classes. The new Comet Corner trades junk food and notebooks for T-shirts, coasters, mugs and other items made in the high school's makerspace, with a new home in the high school lobby. The store will be entirely student-run as part of an elective course focused on entrepreneurship and business skills, Superintendent Mike Molnar said at a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday afternoon. "We've always supported if you're going to college, if you're going to the military, if you go right in the workforce," Molnar said. "There's so many students, they're choosing to try to be entrepreneurs. … We wanted to give kids an opportunity to get their feet wet here at the high school, so we created the Comet Corner store to connect with the makerspace." The new Comet Corner, funded by a $40,000 grant from the Amherst Schools Foundation, will see students designing and marketing products and putting any revenues back into the business. Molnar said the district is working with its nutrition service department to potentially sell coffee or snacks alongside the student-made items. Technology teacher Stephanie Boggs said this year will get off a slow start, as some students new to the makerspace programs and equipment will need training ahead of creating items for the store. But once the Comet Corner-based course is fleshed out, it will be implemented like a business class for students with experience with the makerspace technology — focusing on soft skills like sales and marketing alongside physically making the products. "We're just going to create it as we go and change it as needed," she said. The course will count as an elective, and can be used toward a technology seal for Ohio's graduation requirements. Dr. John Schaeffer, with the Amherst School Foundation, said education is irreplaceable, and the Amherst community is blessed to have a school system offering programs like the Comet Corner and makerspace. "Education is such an incredibly important concept and everybody, always, consistently forever should be focused on carrying the message throughout the entire community because there's no replacement for education," he said. As Marion L. Steele alumni, teacher Russ Marty and Assistant Superintendent Sarah Walker remembered the old Comet Corner with its candy, birthday balloons and school supplies. "We're excited, if nothing else but for the nostalgia of it. I've talked to friends like 'Comet Corner's coming back' and they're like 'I can't wait.'" Marty said. "So it's kind of a big deal for our little tightknit community." Lakeland Glass provided the glass panels for the store, and Wagner Signs created the neon Comet Corner sign. Hours for Comet Corner will be posted on the district's website. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.