Germy Wormy brings lessons to Sun City elementary school

Margaret Back answers a question from a student in Sun City on Friday.

Kindergartners and first-graders at Ridgemoor Elementary in Sun City learned Friday that germs can come from toys, door knobs and game controllers-basically anything their little hands touch.  

According to Back, a sneeze can travel 90 mph; kids can touch more than 300 surfaces in less than 30 minutes; germs can live on hands for up to three hours and 80 percent of illness is spread by hands. 

The key is that once those germs are on their hands, “and you need to touch your face, the back of the hand is the place,” said Margaret Back, a Sun City mother whose first grade daughter attends Ridgemoor Elementary. 

Back’s company, Germy Wormy, has adopted the school this flu season, in hopes of cutting down illnesses spread through the classroom. Germy Wormy is a disposable sleeve that can be worn on youngsters’ arms, encouraging them to sneeze and cough into their elbow, giving Germy Wormy their germs instead of passing them to others. 

“At this age, they have no idea what a germ is,” said Back, who used green glitter glue, spreading it from her hands to her face-visually describing how easily germs can go from any surface they touch to their hands; then onto their eyes, mouth and ears. 

First-grade teacher Denise Bassett has her students use hand-sanitizers frequently throughout the day, especially now that flu season is here. 

“This age is very visual,” Bassett said. “When she used the green stuff to demonstrate the germs, it really opened their eyes.” 

Through a DVD puppet show starring Germy the Worm, Bassett’s class and others were shown the ”Germ Stoppers Five:”

#1.) Never use your germ zone to touch your mouth, nose, eyes, ears or face; instead the back of your hand is the place.

#2.) Never put your fingers in your eyes, nose, mouth or ears.

#3.) Never put toys or other things in your mouth

#4.) Keep your distance when someone is sick.

#5.) Always wash your hands with soap and water after you eat, use the bathroom, and when you are done playing.

Each of the teachers was given a pack of Germy Wormy’s to share with their class, and Back hopes to continue introducing her product to other local schools in Southwest Riverside County. 

“This is perfect timing, with everyone being sick right now,” said Krista Pennington, Ridgemoor’s health tech. “This age group was very responsive to her presentation. It is important to educate them about germs early on.” 

According to Back, the old-wives tale of coughing into the hand has been replaced by a new etiquette within the last 10 years: coughing into the elbow. 

“The CDC now recommends coughing into the elbow, but we are all hand coughers. We were all taught that,” Back said. “We just need to change our habits.” 

Back came up with Germy Wormy in 2006, after she spent seven months out of a year being sick from germs brought home from school by her daughter. The success of the idea in her own family inspired Back to find a manufacturer for the product, which she is now marketing to national chains like Walgreen’s and Wal-Mart. 

“It was a great message delivered in a very creative way to our students,” said Menifee Union School District spokeswoman Betti Cadmus, about the presentation.

To learn more about Germy Wormy, go to www.germywormy.com, or call 1-888-GERMY-88.

Maggie Avants is the education editor for SWRNN. Comments or story suggestions can be sent to mavants.swrnn@gmail.com

Tags: Betti Cadmus, Germy Wormy, Maggie Avants, Margaret Back, menifee union school district, Ridgemoor Elem, sun city, SWRNN

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