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Germain the Germ
May 2, 2008 |
From the playground to the classroom, your kids are constantly exposed to germs.
Toni Santiago is a teacher at Gulf Coast Elementary School. “The kids a lot of
times want to use their hands to sneeze in they use their and for everything.
And we have to really tell them they can get real sick,” she says. Those little
hands can become big carriers of germs. That’s one reason why the Children’s
Hospital of Southwest Florida has developed the Germaine the Germ Program.
Michelle Arquedas is a Child Advocacy instructor that works with the educational
program. She says, “I come into the classrooms of Kindergarten and first graders
and we do 45 minute sessions where we teach the children the importance offhand
washing.” The interactive lesson includes everything from a question and answer
session to interactive story telling. But the most effective lesson literally
sheds a new light on germs. “We do a black light presentation where they can see
like a visual of pretend germs. When you actually show it to them they say oh my
gosh and they start freaking out they don’t want to touch anything they’re like
eww gross. After that we do the whole washing of the hands with the hand
sanitizer they feel better about it and they’re like oh I’m clean now,” Michelle
says. Toni says kids take their lessons on germs with them when they leave the
classroom. “They can use it everywhere they’re going to tell their mom lets wash
our hands.” The Germaine the germ program helps hundreds of students become
germ-busters. It can be offered in any elementary school in Lee County. Recent
studies show that hand washing at school can significantly reduce illness. |
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