"Ooohh," "Aahhh," "Whoooaaa."
Those sounds were some of the not really quiet, but trying to be quiet, squeals from 150 elementary students as Skoshi, a 28-year-old red-tailed hawk, made an appearance at Oakhurst STEAM Academy in Charlotte, N.C.
Skoshi, a resident raptor at Carolina Raptor Center in Huntersville, N.C., was visiting the school as part of an educational outreach program through the Carolina Raptor Center in partnership with Duke Energy.
The students were assembled in the school gym to learn which class came up with the name of a new osprey at the Raptor Center.
Earlier this year, Carolina Raptor Center received a new osprey, and several classes from Oakhurst STEAM Academy submitted potential names for the osprey. The names were voted on by more than 2,000 Duke Energy employees. Duke Energy's Dominque Harris revealed the winning name – “Kip,” submitted by Courtney Riley's kindergarten class.
The class submitted the name Kip because that's the sound baby ospreys make. "Kip, kip, kip, kip," the students exclaimed.
"The students were so excited for this project," Riley said. "I told the class about the contest during reading time. We brought up the Raptor Center website and talked about ospreys. The class came up with several names before deciding on Kip."
The students didn't get to meet the new osprey; Kip is still getting used to his new digs at the center, though they did meet three other raptors in addition to Skoshi: An American kestrel, a short-eared owl and a barn owl.
Riley's kindergarten class received "Little Kids First Book of Birds," and a family pass to Carolina Raptor Center.
And to that we say: “Kip, kip, kip.”