Educational efforts on behalf of the cleaning department stress the importance of hand hygine and building occupants have taken notice. With the help of the Soap and Detergent Association and "Healthy Schools, Healthy People: It's a SNAP" National Recognition Program, kids are making hand hygine fun.

Students at the Sampson G. Smith Intermediate School in Somerset, New Jersey, rapped their way to the top in the 2008 "Healthy Schools, Healthy People: It's a SNAP" National Recognition Program.

Ms. Kaz Wright's fifth-grade class created an original rap song and video to promote personal hygiene through handwashing. With lyrics composed by students Kyle Sims and Samuel Abbey and a dance routine choreographed and performed by the whole class, the video tells the world that "If you wash your hands, it's good for you. If you don't, you'll get the flu."

The video was part of a school-wide project that included a clean-hands logo, morning announcements, front-lobby displays, and recruitment of students to help with their project of having more than 1,200 students and faculty and staff clean their hands before eating lunch. Everyone that participated in the event received a sticker with the event logo on it, "Don't be fooled by germs." An announcement was made in the morning that the school would be conducting a handwashing program from 10:00 to 12:20, in which a table would be set up in the main lobby so students could sanitize their hands before eating lunch. Students who sanitized their hands received a sticker. Students explained the benefits of washing hands to school staff, visitors and a reporter from the local newspaper.

The Sampson G. Smith School, represented by students Kyle Sims and Samuel Abbey, along with their parents and their teacher, Ms. Wright, were honored with a two-day, all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., which included an awards ceremony at the National Press Club.

SNAP, which stands for School Network for Absenteeism Prevention, is a grassroots, education-based effort to improve health by making hand cleaning an integral part of the school day. SNAP is designed to get the entire school community talking about clean hands by providing tools for incorporating hand hygiene into multiple subject areas and activities. The program is sponsored by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and The Soap and Detergent Association. To learn more about this year's SNAP Award recipients, including the 2008 Runners-up – Port Allegany Elementary School in Port Allegany, Pennsylvania, and Dixon Middle School in Provo, Utah – visit the Virtual Awards Assembly.