TAMU Poultry Judging Team Wins 2006 National Collegiate Poultry Judging Championship

Congratulations to the Texas A&M Poultry Judging Team which won the 2006 National Collegiate Poultry Judging Championship this week !!  Team members John Wood, Dawna Winkler, Saxon Dittert, Jason Coppedge and Jenna Moore as well as Coach Dr. Jason Lee have all worked hard for this honor and they deserve it.  This continues a long tradition of collegiate poultry judging excellence at Texas A&M and we are very proud of these Aggies !

There are two major national level contests each year; the "US Poultry & Egg National Poultry Judging Contest" which is held in the spring and the "National Collegiate Poultry Judging Contest" which is held in the fall.  The TAMU Poultry Science judging teams have won 19 of the possible 40 of these contests over the past 20 years.  Texas A&M is obviously known nationally for our judging team excellence.  Our collegiate poultry judging success has many benefits for the Department and its students.  Such team activities teach group dynamics and collective effort skills as well as individual confidence.  These are all important skills as our students move into leadership roles in industry and society.  Additionally, these judging teams are great recruiting tools.  High school students look up to these Aggies and come to the Texas A&M Poultry Science Department in hopes of being selected for the team.  Our collegiate team members also help with many high school judging workshops and contests to help in the next generation of judges.  This seems to be working as Texas schools regularly win the national FFA contest.  LaVernia, Texas won the National FFA poultry judging contest in Indianapolis last month.  

(11/8/06)