Student and teacher absenteeism is a large problem in ensuring that students are learning to their full potential. The primary reason for student and teacher absenteeism is sickness or illness.

As stated by the CDC, health-related absenteeism can lead to poor school performance.  Many of these illnesses are preventable with proper hygiene habits and handwashing techniques.

ACE developed a short cartoon video targeted to elementary school children so they can easily learn about germs and the importance of handwashing. In this video, a classroom of elementary students team up with Ace Clean, ACE’s handwashing super hero, to take on Professor Grime, a substitute teacher that has infiltrated the school to spread germs. Through proper disinfection and sanitizing techniques, along with proper handwashing, the students eliminate viruses like strep and rhinovirus.

Lesson plans and activities accompanied the video for teachers and nurses to utilize in their schools.  The program was customized and tailored to address different age groups, specifically kindergarten, second grade, third grade, fourth grade, and fifth grade students.  Additionally, specific activities and materials were designed for nurses so they could educate teachers and distribute to parents. Working with Market Data Retrieval (MDR) and its "We are Parents and We Are Teachers" network, ACE conveyed the information to parents, school nurses and teachers in an interactive and fun way.

The campaign was marketed before and during cold and flu season, and the video and accompanying lesson plans were promoted to 1.38 million school nurses and elementary school teachers. There were over 552,000 interactions with the materials through downloads, clicks and views. The campaign reached an estimated 13.8 million elementary school students.

To view resources from the campaign, visit Healthy Hygiene with Kids.