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BURLINGTON -- At one time this school year, nearly 35 percent of the sixth graders at Turrentine Middle School were out sick. That's why teachers, when presented the opportunity, decided to make sure their students knew the right way to wash their hands.

Using glo-germ, a liquid rubbed onto the hands like lotion, and an ultraviolet light, students could see exactly how many germs were on their hands.

“When you went under the little glowing thing, I realized that my hands really need washing for real,” Kearstin Miles said.

Volunteers from Alamance Community College's nursing program were on hand to teach the proper way to wash. With H1N1 going around, teachers say learning the right way to get rid of germs is a good thing.

“It kind of makes sense,” Teacher Dwayne Lynn said. “We've had an onslaught of disease here at Turrentine. You know, kids are getting sick and going on because of the germs and things and just something as simple as learning how to wash their hands properly can really help.”

Above all, Lynn says it was a valuable lesson.

“Just to see all the stuff that was on their hands, some of them washed their hands coming into this thing so they were like, ‘mine were going to be very clean,’ but then once they were under that black light, they say maybe they weren't doing something right,” Lynn said.

And the students say they just didn't realize how many germs would be left on their hands.

“I thought I had pretty much gotten everything off, but I had a little bit, not a lot,” Miles said.

To help control the spread of germs, officials say to wash your hands for at least 20 seconds. An easy reminder is to sing “Happy Birthday” to yourself. Also scrub your hands facing down so that the germs fall back into the sink and finally use a paper towel to turn the faucet off.