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Covenant to set sail for History Day competition at MTSU
Covenant Academy students original
Covenant Academy students in a social studies honor society called Rho Kappa are, front row, from left, Brandy Pennington, Mackenzie Mills, Maddie Gibbs, Marissa OHara, Casssie Sharpe, and Lydia Netherton. Back row, Beckham Scott, Ethan Hillis, Terry Hines, Caleb Hines, Jackson Sauer, David Netherton, Vansh Patel, and Erica Clay.

The Titanic was the largest ship afloat at the time it entered service in 1912. But its sinking at sea during its maiden voyage also made for one of the deadliest maritime disasters in modern history.

It’s for those reasons students at Covenant Academy have selected the Titanic as one of their topics for an upcoming History Day competition at MTSU. The theme of this year’s competition is Triumph and Tragedy.

“It was the biggest ship of its time, but its size also contributed to its downfall,” said Covenant student Vansh Patel.

Covenant is sending several teams to the History Day competition with other themes of Triumph and Tragedy being the atomic bomb, Amilia Earhart, and the USS Indianapolis.

“The Manhattan Project was a success because it led to the creation of the atomic bomb which ended World War II,” said Covenant student Terry Hines. “But it was a tragedy because it resulted in a tremendous loss of life and impacted millions of people with radiation that was left behind.”

The History Day competition is one of the events made available to Covenant students in Rho Kappa, a social studies honor society in its first year at the school. Students will also have the chance to participate in an upcoming Oracle Contest through Rho Kappa where they give speeches up to 10 minutes in length.

“I’ve been so impressed because they’ve taken these projects and they’ve run with them,” said Covenant headmaster Kelly Stewart. “They do all this in their free time and most of them play sports too.”

This year’s Oracle Contest will focus on the U.S. Constitution, specifically the 2nd, 3rd, and 15th amendments.

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