New County Agent is a Familiar Face

The Phillips County Extension office has a new face at the helm. The face is not new, however, to the Malta community.

Newly hired Phillips County Extension Agent Christina Murphy tossed her name in the pool when Marko Manoukian retired and the State opened the position. It isn't much of a change for Christina, she resigned as the Agricultural Education and Welding teacher at Malta School District, a position she has held for four years to make the transition.

Christina described her life as being a country girl (at heart) living in the city. She grew up in Kalispell and upon graduation took her boots and headed to MSU-Bozeman to finish her education.

Farming and ranching has always been in the family. In high school she got involved with Ag Center and FFA, and her parents always knew where they could find her. Her paternal grandparents contributed to her desires and dreams and every weekend and open day in her world was spent at her grandparents.

Her maternal grandparents were more into the cattle industry and provided her with a world of livestock, cowboy life, and again, the outdoors.

Her paternal grandfather was influential in her interest in leatherwork as well. She enjoyed keeping busy following in his boot steps. She spent summers tooling leather and bonding with her grandpa.

Christina followed up with the plan her one particular Vo-Ag teacher had in mind for her, finishing college. She then did her student teaching in White Sulphur Springs. She met her husband-to-be, Russ, at Martinsdale. After spending the summer working construction, she landed the job at Malta High School.

Upon her arrival in Malta, she started rebuilding the Vo-Ag program and added the eighth-grade program to the class roster, which she feels is the best decision she ever made. Christina said making the decision to change jobs wasn't easy. One thing she believes in is preparing the students to be career oriented and work toward being an employer. Lining out workshops and competitions for the students kept her busy and focused.

Now, she will embark on the other side of the county fair – from riding herd on the FFA team to guiding and encouraging the 4-H members. So, for her, there is a change, even though slight.

One of the changes she will be looking at is doing an assessment on the fair and how it plays out. She would like the input of those involved to look at any changes at a point in time after the 2023 fair is closed and done.

Christina keeps herself busy with her leatherwork and is getting more items off her agenda to make it more marketable.

If you don't see her at the fair, feel free to stop down to the library basement and visit with her. She would enjoy getting to know more people in the community.