On February 15, Clean the World employees volunteered at Memorial Middle School in Orlando for our monthly Soap in Schools program. We had the wonderful opportunity to teach students the importance of hand washing, while also keeping them engaged and creating an environment where they have fun learning about germs and hygiene!

To begin the exciting event, students played a trivia game lead by Clean the World’s Lisa Hullinger, who gave them the dirty details about how far a sneeze travels. She also schooled the kids about which everyday item carries more germs — a cellphone or a toilet seat (spoiler alert, it’s a cellphone!), and how it’s crucial for them to wash their hands with soap rather than just use hand sanitizer. While some students couldn’t be stumped by these facts, many were shocked to know how many germs they are exposed to on a daily basis.

The crowd favorite of the afternoon was the black light activity, or as our intern Gabrielle Lintz renamed it, the “Germ Detector.” After students played the trivia game, they were eager to see what the black light would be used for. They saw their germs light up and come to life under the light, and were then strongly motivated to wash their hands.

At the hand-washing station, soap heroes Madison Wilson, Jorge Souto, and Cairra Martin of Clean the World sang a jingle to teach the students how to effectively wash their hands and remove the germs they spotted under the black light. For 20 seconds, the students successfully scrubbed away the germs and sang along to the hand-washing song that Clean the World teaches at every Soap in Schools event.

Clean the World is humbled to have the opportunity to teach students and families the importance of hygiene and hand washing. Seeing the children’s faces light up and get involved with us is truly amazing. We always hope to leave a positive, lasting impact on their lives. At the end of the event we gave each family a hygiene kit to take home, as a thank you for participating and taking the time to learn how they can improve their hygiene practices.

Clean the World’s Soap in Schools program began in January of 2016. Once a month we visit a different middle school after-school program to share our mission and teach families and students about the importance of hand washing.

Written by Gabrielle Lintz, an intern in the Clean the World marketing department.