This past Friday, Raptor Nation enjoyed their very first Raptor Day!!!!!! To celebrate the first full week of school and Magnet’s ranking as the best public high school in the nation (and likely the world), the student council organized a day of food trucks and festivities that culminated in the first football game.

Among the three food trucks present in the bus loop, Magnet students had the opportunity to choose between Platia (greek food), Mac Daddy (artisinal mac and cheese), and Kona Ice (snow cones) for dessert. Mac Daddy, a previous fan favorite, fell short to Platia in popularity on Friday with many students citing Platia’s diverse Mediterranean cuisine as reason for their purchase. Platia also offered vegetarian friendly options and a special combo of any pita and fries for only ten dollars. Fellow vegetarian, Kedar shared some of his veggie gyro and falafel with me, which I would rate very highly. Magnet’s student council also arranged for the food trucks to be present during SOA middle and high’s lunch periods as well, so the whole Bonds Wilson campus could partake in the fun.

For another attraction, Birds of Prey in Awendaw brought a Harris’s hawk, who flew around the school and intimidatingly perched on various ledges and buildings around the courtyard. This particular bird had been training with Birds of Prey for over six years, and could respond to a variety of hand signals and commands. The trainer explained to me that she understands this hawk’s emotions quite well and stated he was very relaxed on Raptor Day despite being surrounded by a multitude of high schoolers. She also informed me that it is difficult to definitively tell the gender of this bird, but she believes it to be a male due to its larger size. At the end of lunch the student council presented Birds of Prey with a donation as thanks for their work with Charleston wildlife. Upon consulting Wikipedia, I have come to find out that Harris’s hawks like to hunt in packs unlike most other raptors. Who woulda thunk it???

The day culminated with the game against Charleston Math and Science, which I was informed might be Magnet’s sole victory this season. The game started out bleak with CMS up twelve to Magnet’s eight until the third quarter when Will Jordan got a breakaway ball and scored a touchdown to win the game. Let me tell you, it was crazy. We wanted to storm the field after the victory, but Ms. Pinckney said no, which was super sad. There is always next time though 😉 Hopefully…