Keeps Going and Going

I teach kindergarten and first grade and boy, do we go through a lot of pencils! Last year I finally gave up on my trusty wall-mounted, manual sharpener because the kids kept knocking the shavings out all over the floor. I decided to go for an electric and bought a mid-priced model from Walmart. I don't recall what brand it was but it died within two weeks. It just couldn't take the constant use of a classroom.

After asking for recommendations from the other teachers, I went out and bought the X-Acto School Pro. The regular price was about $50 but I found it on sale at Staples for $40 with a $10 rebate. This used up almost half of my school supply money but I was hoping it would be worth it.

One of the best features of the School Pro is that it will accommodate almost any size pencil. We use both the fat primary beginner pencil and regular no.2 size ones in my classroom. This sharpener can handle them both.

Another great feature is the auto-stop. I've had more than a few kids sharpen their pencils down to a nub. With this machine, once the pencil is sharpened to a point, it won't sharpen it any more. You can tell when the pencil is sharp because the sound changes. I've taught my students that once they hear the sound change from sharpening to humming, it's time to take the pencil out.

The X-Acto School Pro is great for the classroom because it has a huge receptacle for the shavings. I can go for two weeks without emptying it. It's very simple to remove, dump, and put back in place. However, I have noticed that if it gets very full, some of the shavings fall out of the top because there's a slight gap between the cup and the sharpener.

Overall, the X-Acto School Pro is an excellent pencil sharpener for heavy use. I used it non-stop all of last school year and it sharpens just as well now as it did when I got it. I highly recommend it to anyone who needs a reliable sharpener on a daily basis.