Things are going to get wild at area schools, thanks to fundraising efforts by Dowagiac Conservation Club.

That’s because the Conservation Club’s youth education fund is paying for Wildlife Encounters: Birds of Prey, an educational, kid-oriented presentation that brings in such birds as owls, hawks and yes, an American bald eagle for youngsters to see and learn about.

Wildlife Encounters has been presented to fifth and sixth grade students in Cassopolis, Marcellus and Eau Claire, as well as Kincheloe and Patrick Hamilton elementary schools in Dowagiac.

On Thursday, May 16, the same program will be presented at Dowagiac Conservation Club at 7 p.m. This presentation is free and open to the public.

This is an opportunity for all those who have supported the Hunter’s Rendezvous and the Wild Game Dinner to see where funds from these efforts are being directed.

Revenue from the annual Hunter’s Rendezvous, an event for youth and experienced hunters held every January at the Conservation Club, as well as the Wild Game Dinner in February, fund the club’s youth education fund.

This fund, in turn, pays for youth activities at the Conservation Club, which include hunter safety courses, a youth pheasant hunt, Tracks magazine, Michigan United Conservation Clubs youth camp and the school program Wildlife Encounters, which this year features Birds of Prey.