Writer: Kay Ledbetter, 806-677-5608, skledbetter@ag.tamu.edu
Contact: Lizabeth Gresham, 373-0713, lizabeth.gresham@ag.tamu.edu
AMARILLO – Lizabeth Gresham has been named the Prairie View A&M University Cooperative Extension Program agent for family and consumer sciences in Potter County, according to Dr. Angela Burkham, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service regional program coordinator for family and consumer sciences in Amarillo.
Gresham will work with AgriLife Extension colleagues – Brandon Boughen, agriculture and natural resources; Amy Wagner, family and consumer sciences; and Kyle Stewart, 4-H and youth development – at the agency’s office for Potter County at 3301 E. 10th Ave. in Amarillo.
The addition of a Prairie View agent in Potter County “will enable us to better serve lower socioeconomic families and to reach more people in need than we ever have before,” Burkham said.
Similar to AgriLife Extension, the Prairie View A&M University Cooperative Extension Program delivers practical research-based information to small farm producers, families, aspiring entrepreneurs and youth throughout Texas. Prairie View, a part of the Texas A&M University System, is currently working in partnership with AgriLife Extension to provide family and consumer sciences agents in 16 counties across the state.
Gresham worked for 13 years as the workforce development program specialist for the Panhandle Regional Planning Commission in Amarillo and served as an AgriLife Extension family and consumer sciences agent in Lubbock County and Fort Bend County prior to that. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech University and her master’s degree from Prairie View A&M University.
“We are excited to have Lizabeth back with Extension,” Burkham said. “She has exceptional teaching and marketing skills that will be crucial to engaging a new position like this.”
“I have a passion for Extension and empowering and educating people, and when this position opened, and with my degree from Prairie View, I knew the timing was perfect,” Gresham said. “I am dedicated to providing educational programs and hands-on guidance to limited-resource families in our community. Prairie View is unique in that the mission focuses on investing in the lives of people who need us most.”
Among the programs she anticipates addressing are nutrition, health and wellness, childhood obesity and food safety, as well as financial management, Gresham said.
“I also look forward to educating our communities and creating awareness of our 4-H programs and bringing in new audiences. Our programs provide so many opportunities to develop youth into successful leaders.”
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