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The Warren County Courthouse stands in the background as students pose in front of the historic downtown fountain when students from Japan made a visit to McMinnville in the summer of 2016. Pictured are, first row from left, Yuto Abe, Jensen Smith, Mizuki Abe, Natsuki Murakami, Sawa Sato, Runa Kato, Yoko Ishida. Back row, Yuto Yamaguchi, Tony Curtis, Chance Hale, Icie-Mae Craven, Seina Homma, Yuzuki Takoi, Mayor Jimmy Haley, Marynia Harris, Brooke Grissom, Deryn Allen, Rachel Bell, Kinsley Lorance and Emily Fults.

If you have a student who would like to visit Japan, now is the time to act.
Applications are being distributed at area schools and are now being accepted for the annual Sister Cities exchange program. The program is open to students who are currently in grades 7-9.
Students will travel to Mikawa, Japan this summer from July 23 to Aug. 2. Japanese students visited McMinnville in 2016.
“This is a culturally enriching, eye-opening experience,” said Sister Cities chair Leigh Ann Stewart. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
Sister Cities International was created by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956 at the conference on citizen diplomacy. He reasoned people of different cultures could celebrate and appreciate their differences and build partnerships. The program has been endorsed by every president since.
The McMinnville/ Mikawa sistership started in 1993 under the administration of Mayor Norman Rone. Last summer marked the 22nd student exchange.
Ten local students are chosen to participate in the program, with Warren County’s delegation going to Japan in 2017. Applications are now being distributed to students in grades 7-9 to begin the process. 
As chair, Stewart is joined by a group of board members. Together they make all the arrangements for the guests while they are in the United States. Their visit starts in Washington, D.C., before heading south to Nashville and finally to McMinnville.
Applications are available in schools or contact Stewart at 808-3201 for more information.

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