Posted: February 9, 2022
Penn State’s Department of Animal Science’s Poultry Club placed second in the National Club of the Year competition held at the 2022 International Poultry and Processing Exposition (IPPE) in Atlanta, GA, last week in person, after a virtual event last year. The club also won Scrapbook of the Year, an honor they have achieved in 24 of the past 26 years.
Penn State Poultry Club Members at IPPE. Front Row, from left: Dr. Alice Johnson, Sr. VP Food Safety and Animal Care, Butterball LLC, Haley Sweitzer, Brooke Kline, Lauren Itle-Szpala, Madison Berger, Katherine Schafer, Emily Brzozowski, Kelsey Schlegel, and Kendall Layman, Managing Director Global IT and Marketing. Second L-R, Phillip Clauer, Patrick Rush, Rogen, Shaffer, Elena Archer, Jonathan Nace, Matthew Eyre.
Penn State’s Department of Animal Science’s Poultry Club placed second in the National Club of the Year competition held at the 2022 International Poultry and Processing Exposition (IPPE) in Atlanta, GA, last week in person, after a virtual event last year. The club also won Scrapbook of the Year, an honor they have achieved in 24 of the past 26 years.
The Poultry Club is one of the most active in the College of Agricultural Sciences, with students doing a wide range of community service projects, holding socials to foster relationships, conducting the annual turkey harvest/sale prior to Thanksgiving, hosting industry professionals, reaching out to the greater student body on Ag Day.
Thirteen club members participated in the College Student Career Program, sponsored by the USPOULTRY Foundation, with over 500 students from 34 universities in attendance. Many PSU students returned with multiple job or internships offers. The College Student Career Program is held in conjunction with the International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE), where students visited the extensive trade show with exhibitors covering every aspect of the poultry industry. They were able to observe the latest technology and newest innovations in today’s poultry and egg production and processing industry.
Career opportunities in the poultry industry are extensive for college graduates; virtually every “Poultry and Avian Science Minor” from PSU has found a job in the poultry industry upon graduation.
Phillip Clauer, senior instructor in the Department of Animal Science, said, “The USPOULTRY College Student Career program is an outstanding learning experience for our students. Not only do they get a broad overview of the entire industry and related fields while attending the International Production & Processing Expo, but they also can interact with the human resources managers and recruiters from across the country. These contacts are invaluable as they seek to begin careers.”
Clauer noted that many job offers were made, and there were abundant opportunities for internships. “We could place many more students in the poultry industry each year.” He said this is a great tribute to the quality of the Poultry and Avian Science minor at Penn State and the career opportunities that await students.
Any high school student who may be interested in studying Poultry Science at Penn State is invited to contact Clauer at pclauer@psu.edu. Over $50,000 in poultry specific scholarships are available for students, and the PSU Poultry Science Club and Collegiate Poultry Judging Team are annually one of the best in the country.
Each student who attended the Expo had their expenses paid, having earned the trip through ten hours of work at the Club’s annual Fall Turkey Harvest and by completing four pages of the club’s scrapbook.
The club received partial funding from the College of Agricultural Sciences’ Office for Undergraduate Education to participate in this event.
