Meet Aspire Books: A Class Project Teaching Students Life Skills Through Book Sales
Aspire Books is one of the most important shops on Pango. While there are many Pango sellers who offer outstanding prices, service, and shipping, Aspire Books is the only one that is also giving a classroom of students with disabilities meaningful vocational experiences. Operated as part of a Lifeskills class at a high school in Northern California, Aspire has students managing every part of its operations. All proceeds from its book sales go directly to a class fund which is used for supplies, technology, celebrations, field trips, and more.
As teacher Jennifer Fowler, explains, “This business has been such a wonderful addition to our class. I have several students who take the pictures and make the listings, others who enjoy the packaging, and I even have a student who is keeping track of our sales and doing the bookkeeping. We all have fun taking trips to the post office to mail our packages.”
Since launching last spring, Aspire has racked up a considerable number of sales on Pango and has earned a perfect 5-star rating across all of its buyer reviews. Buyers have been blown away by the shop’s fast shipping and thoughtful packaging. As one recent review put it, “I loved the card sent in the package almost as much as I love the book!... Great shipping and the book was in great condition!”
Beyond learning about shipping, photography, and other business skills, the class is also learning about geography. The class keeps a map of the USA and marks every state where their books have been shipped. If you’re reading this and are based in Maine, Delaware, South Dakota, or Washington D.C., buy a book from Aspire so they can hit the full fifty!
Parent Fatima Naylor has been helping to spread the word about the shop via her Facebook. She’s loved seeing her kids’ enthusiasm for the business and the books they are selling. “[My sons] and their classmates are learning so many new skills such as how to use tape, photography, geography and so much more. Buy some books today and know you are making a difference. It’s a win win.”
Many of the books in the Aspire shop come from community donations, and as of the posting of this blog post, they have over 200 books listed. Their inventory runs a range of genres and book formats offering something for everyone. Be sure to check out their Pango shop page today and help support this fantastic project and book-selling team.
Click here to see the Aspire Books Pango shop and their current inventory! Buy some books to help support this incredible team!
