USC President to release
red-tailed hawk adopted by Day Care Center
Pueblo, Colo. -- University of Southern Colorado President Ronald
Applbaum will release a red-tailed hawk on campus at 10 a.m. on Thursday (Sept.
5). The bird will be one of two hawks from the Raptor Center at the Greenway and
Nature Center released that morning at the USC Childcare Center.
The children at the childcare center adopted one of the
injured hawks last year as part of an educational program, raising approximately
$200 through a variety of fund raising events to help pay for food and care for
the bird during its recovery.
Both hawks, which have recovered from injuries sustained
in the wild, are ready to return to their natural habitat, according to Diana
Miller, education specialist and Raptor Center coordinator.
Adopting a hawk was a worthwhile activity for the
children, according to USC Childcare Director Louanna Razo. "The project
helped them learn about what is involved in caring for a wild animal," said
Razo, "that this is something that requires the expertise of a trained
professional, it isn't something they can do on their own."
Operated by Children's World Learning Centers, the USC
child-care center provides a structured learning environment for the
two-to-six-year-old children of USC students during the school year.
The Raptor Center of Pueblo is a non-profit facility,
which provides care to injured and orphaned birds of prey (eagles, hawks, owls,
falcons, etc.) and provides educational programming about the birds to the
public. The Raptor Center of Pueblo is a facility of the Greenway & Nature
Center of Pueblo in partnership with the University of Southern Colorado.
The University of Southern Colorado is a regional,
comprehensive university emphasizing professional, career-oriented and applied
programs. Displaying excellence in teaching, celebrating diversity, and engaging
in service and outreach, USC is distinguished by access, opportunity and the
overall quality of services provided to its students.
