What began as a senior project has inspired an entrepreneur to launch what is now a nationwide company.

Tawana Weicker, a former Polk County High School English teacher, was deeply inspired by a student’s ability to convert the cafeteria’s cooking grease into bio-diesel. Weicker began experimenting with ingredients and creating her own soaps using the same process.

The main ingredient is glycerin, an odorless and non-toxic liquid that can be derived from plants. It is also a byproduct of biodiesel production.

Her cleaning products as a whole are, in themselves, so clean and non-toxic that they can be ingested with no adverse medical effects.

While still teaching at Polk County High School, Weicker continued to tweak and perfect her soaps. As her interest and popular continued to grow, she made the decision to leave the high school to pursue expanding the company in 2011.

She is now manufacturing a full line of cleaning products that includes body, pet, equine, leather and hand soaps under the name Warhorse Solutions.

The Warhorse product line can be found in many local shops and restaurants, as well as online and in retail stores as far away as California.

“We use it for everything,” said Mountain View Barbeque owner Shane Blackwell. Blackwell has been carrying the full line of Warhorse Solutions products for approximately seven years, and uses them in the kitchen and restrooms for hand soap.

Warhorse Solutions is now in the final stages of being accepted by Whole Foods, and sold across the state of North Carolina.

“It’s a pretty big deal to get into Whole Foods,” Weicker said. “We’re just getting out of the gate.”

Her products have been featured in Pet Age, Pet Business, Cycle World and American Frontiersman magazines.

Weicker’s success led to her invitation to speak at the upcoming TEDxTryon event, taking place on Sept. 12. She will be the first of 12 speakers, giving their testimony in an effort to inspire others.

“I love teaching so much . . . I quit,” is the title of her TEDx talk.

Weicker will detail her continued involvement with the science program at Polk County High School.

Thanks to Weicker’s passion, PCHS has sustained the bio-diesel generation program and now offers an advanced course.

“Even though I’m not a teacher anymore, it is my company’s goal to mentor and provide resources,” said Weicker.

“It is my personal goal to keep as much as I can in Polk County,” she added.

She employs many of her previous students and hopes that her TEDxTryon speech will inspire other schools to create similar programs.

“Students need a dynamic curriculum where they can develop 21^st century leadership and entrepreneurial skills,” said Weicker. “Polk County has teachers and superintendents that want to do it.”