MOUNT VERNON — Darin Prince had a personal reason to seek a Purple Star School designation.
The Mount Vernon Middle School principal knows all too well the impact of military life on students.
“There are some hardships that families go through whenever a family member is deployed. That was one of the things that really pushed me to want to seek not only this designation for Mount Vernon Middle School, but for the (other) schools in the district,” Prince said.
Prince is a 22-year member of the Ohio Army National Guard. He also has children in the district.
“As a parent, when you can’t be there in order to hear about the things that are happening with your kiddos, to know there are staff members that are purposely focused on them to make sure that they’re taken care of really means a lot,” Prince said.
Following an overseas deployment in support of Operation Inherent Resolve to defeat ISIS during the 2022-23 school year, Prince said he knew he had to pursue Purple Star designation.
Receiving the Purple Star designation
The Purple Star School award is given to schools with a vested interest in military connected students and families. To qualify, each school must provide dedicated resources and support to uplift military students in the classroom.
This year, six of eight schools in the Mount Vernon City School district joined the Class of 2026, including East Elementary School, Wiggin Street Elementary School, Dan Emmett Elementary School, Pleasant Street Elementary School, Mount Vernon Middle School and Mount Vernon High School.
These six schools are among 153 earning the Purple Star award for the first time, according to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. These designations will be valid for three years.
It is the first year the district has made a concentrated effort to seek designation. Prince acted as district liaison.
“My role was to coordinate with all the principals across the district in order to make sure that one, we’re taking care of all the kids across the district that are military connected, but then also make sure that we were meeting all the requirements for the designation,” Prince said.
Military-connected students, including those from families with active and retired personnel, are identified during the registration process. Teachers, counselors and administrators receive this information.
The process to reach out to students has already begun, according to Ben Richards, assistant principal of Mount Vernon High School.
“We have plans to do that more frequently moving forward, just to check in, see how they’re doing, and if there’s anything going on that we can do to support them,” Richards said.
Supporting the students
Students also have direct access to a specially trained staff member. At Mount Vernon Middle School, LeeAnne Jurkowitz acts as both school counselor and military liaison. She has been involved in the push for designation since the beginning.
“I approached Darin a couple of years ago about this … We were already doing a lot of the things required to be designated, but it was just a matter of getting the paperwork side of things done and making it official. With Darin’s leadership, we were able to push that forward,” Jurkowitz said.
There are about 35 military-connected students in the district. Jurkowitz has seen the positive impacts of the program on these students firsthand.
“Two particular students I can think of … have had parents in deployment situations over the last couple of years,” she said. “… just supporting them, and letting them know that we are all here to support and help them if they need anything at any time, I think that that goes a long way.”
Among the requirements for designation, each school must host military-focused events throughout the year.
“We have a Veterans Day breakfast that we put on each year,” Prince said. “We invite any military veteran from the community to come to our school … we’ve had 500 to 600 attendees.”
The high school also hosts an annual military service night at a football game to recognize military-affiliated community members.
“This is one of those unique program that’s just great. It’s just good. You can’t really go wrong with the program,” Jurkowitz said.
“It’s continuing to grow every year and so I hope that (it) continues to spread through the state, to support as many students as possible.”
