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Standard's headlines make headlines
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Standard reporter Lisa Hobbs, left, and publisher Patricia Zechman are pleased with the newspaper’s two first-place awards for humor column and headline writing.

The Southern Standard came home with 11 statewide awards during a recent Tennessee Press Association banquet in Franklin, including first place honors for best headline writing and humor column.

The newspaper finished with a wide range of awards and was recognized in a number of categories, including best news coverage, best sports writing, best business coverage, and makeup and appearance.

The Standard accomplished this while competing in a division largely composed of daily newspapers because of our high circulation numbers for a non-daily paper. The Standard was lumped in the same division as other noteworthy papers as the Daily News Journal in Murfreesboro, the Leaf-Chronicle in Clarksville, and the Jackson Sun.

“It’s always rewarding to receive recognition for our hard work,” said Standard publisher Patricia Zechman. “We may have received awards for our writing and our photography, but at the end of the day it’s all about accuracy. People want reliable and trustworthy information and it’s our commitment to provide that information for our community. You never know if what you’re reading on social media is true. We want people to have confidence in knowing the information they read in the Southern Standard is accurate.”

Longtime Standard reporter Lisa Hobbs wrote the first-place humor column in which she joked about the problems associated with growing older. “Age is just a number and mine is unlisted,” wrote Hobbs, who is no stranger to aging.

The Standard won first place for headline writing for a collection of punny headlines submitted throughout the year.

The Standard earned second-place awards for news coverage and makeup and appearance, which covers the newspaper’s overall design.

The entries were for the entire 2020 calendar year, from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31. The newspaper was also recognized in a temporary category (we hope at least) devoted entirely to coronavirus coverage. 

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