Birds of prey were flying around the minds of students and teachers at Hillside Elementary last week, and not just because the school is the “Home of the Hawks.”

To coincide with Hillside’s selection of a name for their new logo/mascot, members of the HawkWatch International raptor conservation group brought a few feathered friends for all students to see.

The school-wide voting process was an engaging activity for students, who responded enthusiastically when it was revealed that the mascot’s name would be “Hawkeye.”

“One of our kindergarten classes thought it was so neat that they could vote and see how it changed the graph on their smart board,” said Hillside principal Sharon Sonnenriech.