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WCHS student works to film her first movie
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Warren County High School junior Maya Denning has an interesting way to spend her summer vacation. She is working to produce her first movie called “Dreams,” which she hopes to start filming in July.
“I’ve always written stories from the time I learned how to write,” said Denning. “Now I’m feeling my way around movies.”
Denning has already filled her six-character cast and secured sites where she can film. She says the movie will be shot at Riverfront Park, a field, and a house. Denning estimates the movie will be about 15 minutes long.
“Hopefully we can do all the filming in two or three days,” said Denning. “That will be best because I have a couple actors who are coming from out of town.”
The plot centers around a boy named James, who is struggling with his father’s absence. He begins to work through possible scenarios about what may have happened to his father in his dreams.
“His dad left and his mom won’t tell him why,” said Denning. “He works out his own theories about what might have happened and you see all the different scenarios unfold in his dreams.”
Two local residents will be playing James at different stages in his life. A young James will be played by Jackson Sauer, while an older James will be played by Jackson’s older brother, Kirkland Sauer.
Denning is using fundraising website Kickstarter to gain financial support for the film. She’s asking the community to visit the “Dreams” Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/DreamsShortFilm and link to the Kickstarter page from there.
Anyone can make a Kickstarter contribution of any amount. Denning has set a goal of raising $1,600 by this Sunday, June 9 at 6 a.m. So far she has raised $1,120.
“With Kickstarter, I have to reach $1,600 or I lose all of it,” said Denning. “That’s the way it works.”
Denning got interested in film production thanks to her theater arts class at WCHS. She says the film has already created some buzz around the community and she hopes this initial project serves as a springboard for other films. She says the movie will be eligible for various film festivals and it will also help build her résumé on IMDb.com, a movie database.
“I started on this last summer and it’s been revision after revision,” said Denning. “I deleted a whole character at one point.”
Denning is the daughter of Mike and Sheri Denning and has four siblings.

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