Richmond, IN — What started as a health and wellness project in 2017 is now a major educational opportunity in 2020, mainly because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Newly named the “Billionaire” project, the program aims to teach and reinforce the importance of proper handwashing in regional schools, according to Tim Scales, director for the Center for Entrepreneurship and director for the Center for Economic Education at Indiana University East.
IU East’s School of Nursing and Health Sciences provided health and wellness information and the guidelines for effective handwashing. The school purchased units in 2017 called “glitter bugs” that involve placing a lotion on the hands to simulate germs, then examining the hands under a black light. The person then washes their hands as normal and the unit is used to check them again – often the first time still showing many “germs” still on the hands. The teaching opportunity then explains how important it is to wash the hands long enough to clean between the fingers and generally to scrub them well with soap and water.
Since then, 12 more units have been purchased to teach proper handwashing to all 11 Wayne County elementary schools, along with training on how to use them. The districts include Richmond Community Schools, Centerville Abington Schools, Western Wayne Schools, Seton Schools, Hagerstown Schools, and Northeastern Schools.
With the aid of freshman economics major Carter Cook, who has begun the process to expand “Billionaire” into the schools, hopefully, reduce the spread of COVID-19 and provide some economic education at the same time. Cook and Scales decided to call the project “Billionaire” because of the economic impact that reducing the spread of COVID-19, or any infection, can have on the national economy.
