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Parton taught environmental educator
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Diane Parton has worked tirelessly to educate students at Bridgestone’s 700-acre environmental habitat called BEECH.
Her efforts were recently recognized by the Tennessee Environmental Association when she was named Regional Environmental Educator of the Year during a fall conference in Murfreesboro.
“I was certainly surprised,” said Parton on receiving the award. “I’m happy I get to teach kids to love and take care of the outdoors. The idea is to teach science to students in a hands-on way and to teach stewardship. Everything we do has a purpose of meeting science standards.”
Parton is hands-on science instructional coordinator for Warren County schools. In that capacity, she spends much of her time at BEECH, which stands for Bridgestone Environmental Education Classroom and Habitat.
The 700-acre area features a 1.7-mile teaching trail, meadows, woods, and two ponds.
“There are different teaching points along the trail and the teaching points change with the grade level of the students,” said Parton. “We welcome students all the way up to the college level and frequently have visitors from MTSU and Motlow. Whoever would like to come is welcome.”
Parton was also quick to mention Bridgestone representative Carol Rose as a crucial part of the BEECH program. She says she works hand in hand with Rose to make the educational experience work.
The Regional Environmental Educator of the Year award specifically recognizes Parton for “teaching children science in a fun and hands-on manner.” Rose says that description is certainly appropriate.
“That is exactly what she does at BEECH and in school classrooms, taking the state science standards and adding hands-on activities in a relaxed atmosphere indoors and outdoors,” said Rose. “These activities allow students to retain the information, as documented in standardized testing.”
The award presentation was made by Tennessee Environmental Association board member and MTSU biology professor Dr. Cindi Smith-Walters.
To teach experiential learning in all types of science, Parton uses various methods and capitalizes on the resources of many BEECH partners. 
When Hickory Creek third-graders recently arrived at BEECH, a surprise visit was made by Dr. Nick Gawel who brought Nadeer Youssef, Dr. Jason Oliver, and Joshua Basham from the TSU Nursery Research Center. They presented the BEECH program with an extensive and labeled insect collection to further the educational experiences of students at BEECH.
The Boy Scouts of America and TWRA also partner with BEECH in an effort to offer the best possible science curriculum for local children.
When students visit BEECH, they are referred to as “scientists” and they do not come for a field trip. They are on a field investigation with scientist notebooking. Lessons are specific to our native species.
There is a lab classroom with mounted and live animals for grade-level lessons, assisted by the popular Steve the Snake. In a classroom, students work with materials at grade-appropriate and standards-based centers where they often don’t realize they are learning all kinds of science.

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