In the summer of 2020 and the height of the global pandemic, Chelsey Allen Redd turned her attention to a pair of new hobbies — growing and nurturing a garden, and cooking from scratch.
Little did she know that five years later, such skills would look superb next to “wife of a pastor,” “mother to a family” and “former local educator” on a resume.
Trigg County High School’s Class of 2003 President is in week two of her new job in Cadiz, now employed as the Family Consumer Sciences Agent under the Kentucky State University and Extension Office umbrella.
She hopes she has many more weeks to go in the career, and it’s a job she didn’t know she wanted, but is now glad to have — because it marries a plethora of possibilities for the outreach she once sought in the classroom.
Be it healthy eating practices, homemaking, fiscal responsibility and budgeting, or the exploration of a new hobby, her new career includes anything and everything one could possibly teach or explain to those aged 5 to 95.
One minute, she will be in a Trigg County classroom connecting with young students about food groups and cooking. The next, she will be at the Trigg County Senior Citizen’s Center tackling cognitive puzzles and elderly exercise.
And if she doesn’t have the answer, it will be her task to find someone who does.
At no point, she said, will she be bored.
Her new network, she added, first begins with her current homemakers and a large amount of resources already available — including newsletters, recipes and consistent training opportunities at the state level.
Above all, Redd said this role feels right.
She looks forward to exploring adding curriculum while surveying the needs of Trigg County, and a meet-and-greet has been set up from 3-5 PM, July 21 at the Trigg County Extension Office.
