Purple Star Ambassadors (PSAC) is a club that was created to be a support group for military children with similar family experiences. The club is celebrating April as The Month of the Military Child.
April recognizes the important role that military children play in the armed forces community. For children that have moved to different places multiple times, it’s important that they get credit for their sacrifices as well.
“I’m a former military child,” club sponsor Faith Ibarra said. “We didn’t have ‘Purple Star’ or PSAC when I was growing up. By the time I hit 10th grade, I had already attended 13 schools, and it’s very hard. Especially in high school, being the new kid on the block and having to come in and make friends and then two months later you’re down the road again, making new friends. So, this club not only is important for the kids, it’s important for me, so that they have something that they aren’t able to do alone. They have a support group when they come to Stone Bridge.”
The club not only serves as a support group, but it also acts as a place where students can learn military customs such as courtesies, ceremonies, and proper flag folding etiquette. The students plan and do lessons together along with inviting guest speakers to come to their Thursday meetings.
“At our last meeting, we had a retired Air Force service person come in,” Dr. Ibarra said. “He talked to [the students] about the United States Federal Flag Policy. The right way, the wrong way, what you can, and cannot do with the flag. Then we proceeded to practice folding flags, because in May, they’re going to go out and collect flags from different sites, flag collection sites, so that Dr. Flynn can take it to a burn site and properly dispose of or retire a flag in the right way.”
PSAC also plans events like a spirit day that took place on April 8, where students wore purple to school to raise awareness of what military children experience through their academic career. This group not only impacts the members of the club, but it also impacts other students and the community as whole, bringing understanding, support, and inclusion.
“Even though it’s a club for military children, we really want to bring awareness into the Stone Bridge community about military children and what they go through when their parents deploy or when they come back from deployment,” Dr. Ibarra said. “So, it’s not a stigma, or a secret. It’s just something that the community, like their peers and their teachers, understands and allows them to know what’s going on.”
To find out more information regarding the Purple Star Ambassador Club, email EL teacher Ms. Amanda Stoermer or art teacher Dr. Ibarra.
