The J.I. Case High School Eagles kept their homecoming party going by giving $1,000 to the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center for the care of Valkryie, an eagle in the care of the center.
Every year, students take money leftover from homecoming and donate it to a charity. This year, they chose the Audubon Nature Center and it’s birds-of-prey program after meeting Valkryie and her handler, Lindsay Obermeier, at the Eagles’ homecoming assembly.
“The eagle is a big symbol for Case,” senior Victoria Martinez told Racine Unified staff. “It represents the strength of our school so we wanted to do something to help her.”
During the assembly, students learned about eagles and experienced first hand what Obermeier calls Valkryie’s “magnificence.”
“It’s very important for students to be inspired, she’s such a magnificent animal, so to have her in your presence, especially at such a big event, it was a pleasure to a part of it,” she said.
Having Valkryie and Obermeier at the homecoming assembly was a surprise arranged by Case administrators, and students say that after meeting the bird and her handler, they knew exactly where they wanted the money to go.
Students formally presented the check to Obermeier on Oct. 23 at Case.