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Kyle Ward collects another well-deserved honor
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Harton Regional Medical Center in Tullahoma has named its top employees for 2013 and one of them is none other than McMinnville resident Kyle Ward.
Before embarking on a medical career, Kyle spent time at the Southern Standard where he worked in the newsroom and in advertising. He was named the Standard’s employee of the year in 2002.
Harton Regional honors an employee of the year, nurse of the year, and director of the year. Ward, MLT, earned the employee of the year recognition.
He is a point of testing coordinator at Harton, joining the hospital’s laboratory in 2009.
In addition to his regular laboratory duties, he is instrumental in coordinating hospital blood drives. His background at the Standard has been put to good use as he is the hospital newsletter editor. Ward is also a leader on the employee team focusing on staff functions. He is the go-to person for staff education on lab procedures.
We here at the Standard always saw the great leadership abilities of young Kyle Ward when he joined us on our staff. During his employment, he gained more responsibilities and always showed an eagerness to excel.
He will forever be remembered for his boating incident on the Barren Fork River. In a moment of unclear thinking, Kyle and two buddies decided to kayak the river shortly after a torrential downpour. Water was racing over the dam like a locomotive.
Yet this looked like an appealing adventure to young Kyle, who made it all of 20 feet before being tossed into the water. He was able to cling to a tree and wait for rescue boats to arrive. Young Kyle was perched high in the tree, but the picture published in the newspaper made it look like he was standing in knee-deep water.
Oh the embarrassment he must have felt.
We got to see the tender side of Kyle when he braved the cold one blustery December day to deliver food baskets for Share A Christmas Dinner. It was cold outside, but Kyle’s act of giving served to warm the hearts of residents throughout Warren County.
Kyle is loved by some, a hero to many. We here at the Standard are proud.
Other honorees include Paula Parker, RN, from Shelbyville, who was selected as nurse of the year, and Pam Goodwin from Tullahoma, who is the quality/ risk director and compliance officer.

Local farm partnership brings fresh beef to Warren County Schools
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Warren County Schools has beefed up lunch menus this school year through a new community partnership. Thanks to a collaboration between the district’s School Nutrition Department and Barton Creek Farms, students at Warren County High School, Warren County Middle School, West Elementary, Eastside Elementary, and Dibrell Elementary are enjoying locally sourced, farm-fresh beef in their lunches as part of a pilot program.

The initiative, spearheaded by Terri Mullican, Director of School Nutrition, has already shown great promise in its first few months. The partnership with Barton Creek Farms, located in Rock Island, Tennessee, ensures that the beef served is not only local to Warren County but of the highest quality. Barton Creek Farms specializes in farm-to-fork beef, with grass-fed and grain-finished cattle. Each calf is born and raised in Rock Island and goes through USDA-inspected processing, ensuring it meets the strictest safety and quality standards.

“When the opportunity arose to provide fresh, local beef, we knew it was a no-brainer,” Mullican said. “The fact that it’s a product from right here in our community makes it even more special. We can’t wait to implement it district-wide.”

Barton Creek Farms delivers fresh ground beef to the district monthly, and the nutrition

department incorporates it into homemade recipes such as lasagna, meatloaf, chili, and tacos.

As of now, the beef is being served at five schools, but the ultimate goal is to expand the program to all ten lunch-serving schools in the district.

The pilot program originated from a conversation between Mary Roller of Barton Creek Farms and Mullican. Roller, recognizing the farm’s potential to support local schools, reached out to gauge the district’s interest in serving local beef to students. Around the same time, a Warren County school board member contacted Mullican to share information about a similar partnership in neighboring Dekalb County, which helped push the initiative forward.

The timing worked in the district’s favor, as the nutrition department was able to fund the purchase of the beef using existing resources, eliminating the need for additional funding. Now that the pilot program is enjoying a successful run, the department has budgeted to extend the partnership district-wide for the 2025-26 school year.

Dr. Grant Swallows, Director of Schools, praised the program’s economic approach to student nutrition.

“This pilot is a perfect example of how we can use local resources to continue providing nutritious, healthy meals for our students,” he said. “We are grateful for partnerships like this one that benefit both our students and our local community. We always strive to support our local businesses when we can because our community is so good to us.”

In addition to working with Warren County Schools, Barton Creek Farms also partners with local restaurants to offer farm-fresh beef on their menus. The farm’s offerings include ground beef, steaks, roasts, and custom cuts by the quarter, half, or whole cow, meeting diverse consumer needs.

As the program continues to grow, the district hopes to expand its focus on farm-to-school meals, benefiting students’ health and connecting them to the agricultural roots of the community