Soap sale with a purpose

This year, the life skills class is continuing its tradition of making and selling soap bars, but these bars provide much more than just a nice smell and a clean body. For the students that make these bars of soap, the process may be more educational than the product.

The life skills class teaches kids with special needs, ranging from Autism to Down-Syndrome, everyday skills.

The soap is made with a large bar of glycerin soap that life skills teacher, Mike Groft, purchases in bulk from stores like Michael’s or A.C. Moore. Groft starts the year off by teaching cutting skills to the students, beginning with cheese-cutters. Once Groft sees they are doing well with the cheese-cutters, he starts to train them with other knives. “Everything is a process in [the life skills class] because if you don’t know how to do something, you are going to do it wrong 100 percent of the time, so you need to make sure everything is taught,” said Groft.

The students cut, weigh and then microwave the soaps. Usually the students pick their own scents and molds, unless they are filling an order that has been placed by a customer. Although it sounds simple, these students are completing and learning new skills like how to use a microwave correctly. Groft said, “Eventually, it gets to the point that I tell them, ‘Go make me a three-ounce bar of soap, in a car mold, with their own choice of scent, that is purple.’ That’s a multi-step direction. For me to give a kid a four-step direction, that’s an amazing feat, so it’s crazy awesome.”

The students choose from over 100 different scents and over 500 different molds when making their soap. Groft said some of the most popular scents are Pumpkin Spice, Honey Oatmeal and Sugar Plum Fairy. Some of his personal favorites include Blackberry Cevillia, Melon and Pear Berry.

Life Skills sophomore, Aaron Dettinger, participates in making these bars of soap. Dettinger said he enjoys making the soap and that his favorite scent is Almond Spice. “[The best part of the soap sale is getting to] hand out soap to people,” said Dettinger.

The students sell the soaps at the Markets of Shrewsbury every Thursday year-round. One student goes each Thursday with one of the teaching-assistants from the class. Groft said it is important for the students because they learn things like how to operate a cash register, the proper social skills involved when people come up to the stand and how to purchase food on their own while working at the market. Things that may seem so ordinary are crucial in successfully teaching these students everyday life skills. They also have soap sales at school the week before the holidays and other places such as the York Learning Center.

Groft said the money that is made from the soap sales throughout the year usually goes back into soap costs and transportation for field trips such as the bowling alley and the senior-citizen home. Groft also hopes to spend the money on a new learning program for the students.

The soap ranges from $1.50 for a one-ounce bar to $5.50 for a five-ounce bar. Groft said the most popular size is the 2-3 ounce bars. Most of their sales are done through order forms which can be picked up in the Life Skills room. Groft says he would love for students to purchase the soap, however, their most popular customers are teachers.

These soaps create a fun way for these students to learn everyday skills to help them excel in their futures.

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