{"id":246,"date":"2023-08-11T20:51:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-12T00:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/utia.tennessee.edu\/spotlights\/?p=246"},"modified":"2023-11-30T14:27:35","modified_gmt":"2023-11-30T19:27:35","slug":"cymone-merritt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/utia.tennessee.edu\/spotlights\/cymone-merritt\/","title":{"rendered":"Cymone Merritt"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/utextension.tennessee.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">UT Extension<\/a> agent inspires healthy lifestyle choices through education and community connections<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"utia-accentbar\"><hr style=\"background-color:#ff8300\" align=\"left\" \/><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Where are you from, and how has your career led you to UTIA?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. My passion for nutrition and service led me to working in school nutrition, then community nutrition. While working at a food pantry, I met my current Family and Consumer Sciences coworker, Ebony. She would come to my job to prepare food demonstrations for the clients, and that\u2019s how I learned about UT-TSU Extension.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"utia-accentbar\"><hr style=\"background-color:#ff8300\" align=\"left\" \/><\/div>\n\n<style>.kb-row-layout-id246_8db2a7-f5 > .kt-row-column-wrap{align-content:start;}:where(.kb-row-layout-id246_8db2a7-f5 > .kt-row-column-wrap) > .wp-block-kadence-column{justify-content:start;}.kb-row-layout-id246_8db2a7-f5 > .kt-row-column-wrap{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-md, 2rem);row-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-md, 2rem);padding-top:var(--global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);grid-template-columns:repeat(2, minmax(0, 1fr));}.kb-row-layout-id246_8db2a7-f5 > .kt-row-layout-overlay{opacity:0.30;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kb-row-layout-id246_8db2a7-f5 > .kt-row-column-wrap{grid-template-columns:repeat(2, minmax(0, 1fr));}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.kb-row-layout-id246_8db2a7-f5 > .kt-row-column-wrap{grid-template-columns:minmax(0, 1fr);}}<\/style><div class=\"kb-row-layout-wrap kb-row-layout-id246_8db2a7-f5 alignnone wp-block-kadence-rowlayout\"><div class=\"kt-row-column-wrap kt-has-2-columns kt-row-layout-equal kt-tab-layout-inherit kt-mobile-layout-row kt-row-valign-top\">\n<style>.kadence-column246_f40eff-1b > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column246_f40eff-1b > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column246_f40eff-1b > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column246_f40eff-1b > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column246_f40eff-1b > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column246_f40eff-1b > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column246_f40eff-1b{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column246_f40eff-1b > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.kadence-column246_f40eff-1b > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column246_f40eff-1b\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>What is your role within Extension and what do you do on a typical day?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am currently a Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Agent who supervises and trains program assistants in the Western Region. No two days are the same. Some days I am finding new sites and creating new partnerships for Shelby County FCS. Other days I am communicating, guiding and planning educational trainings for program assistants, as well as teaching my own nutrition classes in the community.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<style>.kadence-column246_3931fe-c2 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column246_3931fe-c2 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column246_3931fe-c2 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column246_3931fe-c2 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column246_3931fe-c2 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column246_3931fe-c2 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column246_3931fe-c2{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column246_3931fe-c2 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.kadence-column246_3931fe-c2 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column246_3931fe-c2\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/utia.tennessee.edu\/spotlights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/264\/2023\/11\/DSC09853-1-1024x576.jpeg\" alt=\"Cymone teaching a class with an interested participant\" class=\"wp-image-253\" srcset=\"https:\/\/utia.tennessee.edu\/spotlights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/264\/2023\/11\/DSC09853-1-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/utia.tennessee.edu\/spotlights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/264\/2023\/11\/DSC09853-1-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/utia.tennessee.edu\/spotlights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/264\/2023\/11\/DSC09853-1-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/utia.tennessee.edu\/spotlights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/264\/2023\/11\/DSC09853-1-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/utia.tennessee.edu\/spotlights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/264\/2023\/11\/DSC09853-1-2048x1152.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"utia-accentbar\"><hr style=\"background-color:#ff8300\" align=\"left\" \/><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>What is your favorite thing about working in Family and Consumer Sciences?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I love working within the community, which gives me the opportunity to connect with new people. I also enjoy the family environment that we\u2019ve created within the office.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"utia-accentbar\"><hr style=\"background-color:#ff8300\" align=\"left\" \/><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>What has been your proudest moment while working at UTIA?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the 2023 Tennessee Extension FCS Conference, the Shelby County FCS Team won 2nd place in the Innovative Youth Development Program Award.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"utia-accentbar\"><hr style=\"background-color:#ff8300\" align=\"left\" \/><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>What is the best Real. Life. Solution. you have helped provide to your community?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I really enjoy teaching kids about eating healthy and introducing new fruits and vegetables to them. I love seeing the way they respond to tasting a new vegetable that they thought wouldn\u2019t be appetizing, but now enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"utia-accentbar\"><hr style=\"background-color:#ff8300\" align=\"left\" \/><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>What do you like to do outside of work and\/or what is a fun fact about yourself that your colleagues may not know?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I enjoy reading novels, traveling and spending time with family and my dog.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"utia-accentbar\"><hr style=\"background-color:#ff8300\" align=\"left\" \/><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"personnel-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UT Extension agent inspires healthy lifestyle choices through education and community connections<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":781,"featured_media":249,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","wds_primary_category":31,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,34,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-extension","category-family-and-consumer-sciences","category-staff"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/utia.tennessee.edu\/spotlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/utia.tennessee.edu\/spotlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/utia.tennessee.edu\/spotlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utia.tennessee.edu\/spotlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/781"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utia.tennessee.edu\/spotlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/utia.tennessee.edu\/spotlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utia.tennessee.edu\/spotlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/utia.tennessee.edu\/spotlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utia.tennessee.edu\/spotlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utia.tennessee.edu\/spotlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}