Photo available
Photo Credit: Tim Hamblin, Derby High School


WICHITA, Kan. – Area students, faculty and staff, including representatives from Derby High School, were among many in the Sedgwick County area wearing purple in support of military youth and families recently, said Angela Edwards, school liaison officer based at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita.

The national initiative, titled “Purple Up! For Military Kids,” generated widespread support and raised awareness about the service – and sacrifices – of military families, Edwards said.

And, while April 13 was selected as “the” day to “Purple Up!”, Edwards noted that any day is a good day to wear the color purple, as it combines Army green, Coast Guard and Air Force blues, Marine red and Navy blue.

Edwards, who works in cooperation with Kansas Operation: Military Kids (OMK), a statewide initiative to support military families, contacted local schools and urged support. In addition to Derby High School, participating area schools also include Beech, Seltzer, and Val Jackson elementary schools in Wichita; Sunflower Elementary (Andover); Augusta Middle School (Augusta); Wineteer Elementary, which also is in Derby, and Freeman Elementary (Haysville).

Kansas Operation: Military Kids (OMK) is part of National OMK, which is a collaborative effort to support the children and youth of active duty, National Guard and Army Reserve member families. K-State Research and Extension and several other organizations and agencies are collaborators in Kansas OMK.

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K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.

Story by: Nancy Peterson
nancyp@ksu.edu
K-State Research & Extension News

Ann Domsch is at 785-532-5833