CHECKING THEM OUT – Jill Wickham, left, Indian Creek School District nurse, and Jackie Dinofrio, a student with Trinity School of Nursing, displayed germs to two Wintersville Elementary School pupils during the district’s recent handwashing experiment. -- Jess Looman

WINTERSVILLE — Plenty of strange sounds were coming from the second-grade classrooms at Wintersville Elementary School recently when the Indian Creek District held its annual hardwashing experiment. There were a few “oohs,” a couple of “aahs,” and frequent exclamations of “that’s gross” while the experiment was held. The second-graders got a lesson on the importance of hand washing, thanks to the services of Jill Wickham, Indian Creek School District nurse, and students from the allied health program at the Jefferson County Joint Vocational School. Wickham said she talked to the pupils early in the school week and actually removed germs from their hands. “Trinity Medical Center was kind enough to donate Auger plates for each pupil, and after the talk, we rubbed three of their fingers on the plate,” she said. “We then put the plates in a warm, dark area for the germs to grow.