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School Spotlight
Tammy Byars
Teacher of the Week: Tammy Byars

Teacher of the Week: Tammy Byars

Tammy Byars has been teaching for 17 years. She teaches third grade at West Elementary.
“I love the kids. I love working with children, watching them learn and watching them discover new things for themselves,” said Byars.
Byars received her bachelor of arts degree in psychology from MTSU, a bachelor of science degree in interdisciplinary studies K-8, also from MTSU, and a master’s degree in instructional leadership from Tennessee Tech.
“I always knew I wanted to teach but I pursued a degree in psychology first. It has helped me to understand childhood behaviors. I thought about becoming a school psychologist but I did not do that,” said Byars.
When not at school, Byars loves to read, travel and spend time with her family, which consists of husband Rodger and children Meagan and K.C.
The Byars family will be attending two more graduations this year as Meagan will graduate this month from Tennessee Tech with her own teaching degree and K.C. will graduate from WCHS.

Student of the Week: Jesus Zuniga

Jesus Zuniga is in sixth grade at Warren County Middle School. He is in Mr. Rippy’s homeroom on the Navigator’s team.
Zuniga said his favorite subject is math. “I like math because I am very good at it,” he said.
He is not sure what he wants to do for a career when his days of attending school are over, but said his career path will likely involve something having to do with math.
Zuniga plays defense on the soccer team for WCMS. He started playing soccer when he was in third grade. He said he will be glad when school is out for the summer so he can hang out and play more soccer with his friends and siblings. He has two brothers and two sisters.

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