Normandy Elementary students fight germs through handwashing
Registered nurse Mary "Izzie Influenza" Kiczek, dressed as a germ, checks the hands of kindergarteners Jane Allen (left) and Riley Kraft with a black light to check handwashing effectiveness.
Normandy Elementary School is putting hand germs on notice that their days are numbered at the school.
Kindergarten through second-grade students learned about healthy hand washing from St. John Medical Center registered nurses on Wednesday, Nov. 19. Then they pledged to become “Germinators” and to wash germs down the drain.
The program is called “Healthy Hands, Healthy Kids.” It is part of the St. John Medical Center Community Outreach Program. Registered nurses (and their germy aliases), all dressed in “germ” costumes, included Mary "Izzie Influenza" Kiczek, Mirian "Fanny Fungus" Buzzard, and Lucile "Lucy Listeria” Maher. Their director of education is Paul "Eddy Ecoli” Forthofer.
Students learn about where germs hide, when to wash their hands, correct hand-washing technique, and how hand washing keeps them healthy. A black light helped show children whether any remaining germs were left behind after hand washing.
Bay Village City School District nurse Chanda Wall arranged for the program to come to Normandy. “The ‘Germ Patrol’ RN's talk about where germs live and how they are spread,” she said. “They come in their germ costumes and the kids love it!”
Wall noted that this is the second year the school has used the program.
Karen Derby
Director of Communications for the Bay Village City School District