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It took a change in vision to bring Millie Murphree to Brewton, but that vision has put her square in the action across the county.
Murphree began her work last week as the County Extension Coordinator for the Escambia County Cooperative Extension Service based here in Brewton.
“I’m excited to be here,” Murphree said. “I grew up in Ozark and coming to Brewton is a good thing. It’s not home, but it’s almost like coming home. It’s a small south Alabama town and I fell like I understand the values here and that’s attractive to me.”
Murphree holds a BS in Business and Communication from Birmingham-Southern College; a Masters in Secondary Education/Language Arts from the University of Alabama; and a Masters and Ph.D. in Agriculture and Extension Education from Mississippi State University.
“I’m a former school teacher,” Murphree said. “I went back to school and made a huge investment to start a new path. I knew that at the end of the path I wanted a new career in my field. That is what has brought me here.”
Prior to coming to Extension, she spent 12 years as a middle and high school teacher in the Tuscaloosa City and Tuscaloosa County School Systems. She comes here from her current role as a Graduate Assistant Instructor at Mississippi State University, College of Agriculture.
“I love so many components about Extension work,” Murphree said. “I have been active in gardening, I can foods, I have raised live stock, rabbits and chickens for about 25 years. My kids showed lambs in 4-H and we’ve raised goats. I want to be involved in all of the different components of Extension service.”
Murphree said she will be planning some meetings with area residents to assess needs and where she can best be of service to the county.
“First, we want to provide research-based programs to meet the needs of the community,” Murphree said. “We want to find out those needs and get out and meet everybody. We want to reach out to people and have them reach out to me as well. I want to provide service to all of our population.”
Murphree said a meeting planned in November will help provide details on what programs the Service will provide for 2023.
“We will be looking at needs assessments and see how that fits into our strategic plans,” Murphree said. ‘If there are some needs that the community fells like we need to meet, I’d love to hear from those people.”
Murphree said working with youth has always been a passion for her and that will continue in her new journey with the Extension Service.
“Youth is a huge priority for me,” Murphree said. ‘I know that we have archer i the schools right now. I’m thankful that the schools let us come in and participate with those kids. I’m sure that we can do more. If there are specific programs someone is interested in having I would love to hear what the community wants.”
Murphree said her door is open and her lines are open to anyone in the community who has a need or just wants to express their ideas.
She can be reached at the Extension office in Brewton at 867-7760 or by email at mem0355@auburn.edu. The Extension office is on South Boulevard behind the offices of Southern Pine Electric Cooperative.