After applying a special cream on her hands to mimic germs, a Deerfield student sticks her hands under a black light to view them. Students then washed their hands to see if they could remove the cream.

Deerfield school fifth-graders Nickolas Passmore, left, and Sean McCoy try to wash a special cream off their hands during a hand-washing demonstration as part of the Boys and Girls Club afterschool program. The cream was used to mimic germs.

It seems so simple, but even hand washing takes practice, a group of Deerfield School students learned Monday.

“I learned that I need to wash my hands harder than I really do,” 10-year-old Michael Turner said.

Kellie Worley, of the Medical Reserve Corps and the Community Health Improvement Project, gave the fifth-graders a refresher course in the small task that can be a big help in preventing the spread of germs, particularly during flu season.

Worley and other volunteers have been conducting the hand-washing demonstrations to students in Boys and Girls Club afterschool programs across the district.

“I think it’s important to get across to the kids and adults,” Worley said. “Right now, it’s cold and flu season. There’s the pandemic scare, so it’s really important to know that we’re all washing well and not enabling the spread of disease.”

The students rubbed their hands with lotion that glows under blue light. They then examined their hands under a blue light before heading off to the sinks with the challenge to completely remove the lotion. The students returned to the blue light to see whether they were successful.

“I learned there are a lot more problem areas than I thought,” Derrick Turner, 10, said after taking the challenge. “I thought there was like two (problem areas) and it turns out there were like five.”

Many in the group already knew the tips to good hand washing, such as scrubbing all areas, including beneath the nails, using soap the whole time, and washing for more than just a few seconds.

Katrina Walker, 10, said she makes sure she washes her hands for a while.

“I go through the ABC’s twice,” she said.

Contrary to popular belief, Worley said many children know how to wash their hands well. Worley said it’s adults that she hopes to target in future demonstrations.

“Kids – they learn all this stuff in school,” she said. “Some adults have never learned it.”