"This was great," said one mom on her way out from attending our Stranger Safety Day last month. During the event, her daughter was photographed by Capture Technologies and presented with a useful laminated ID card including identifying height, weight, hair and eye color.

Coming up this month are car seat inspections, helmet fittings, and sales, choke saving demonstrations with EMT Anna Griffin, earthquake safety with Bay Area Red Cross, poisoning prevention, and water safety with the Bay Area Red Cross. Don't miss this chance to add to your knowledge and skills to keep your young child safe.

See Performances and Events listings for full details.

We are pleased to announce these eleven winners in Habitot's 2nd annual "Preschool Teachers Make a Difference" contest:

• Nga Bui, El Cerrito Preschool Cooperative
• Aaron Calvert & Charlie Vincent,
  Step One School
• Joanie Deksnys, Golden Poppy Preschool
• Maria Fortanel, Betty's Children's Academy
• Kameka Goodwin, Grace Children's Academy
• Muriel Johnson, Monteverde School
• Martha Melgoza, Skytown Parent Co-Op Preschool
• Amy Murphy-Hilt, Cedar Creek Montessori School
• Mehrnaz Novinfar, College of Alameda Children's Center
• Judith Rawner, Holding Hands Preschool
• Kelli Tharpe, Little Sweet Peas Preschool

The teachers were chosen by the distinguished panel of judges listed below by reading nominations for over 40 preschool teachers, many of them nominated by multiple nominators. We thank our panel of judges for their hard work in selecting the winners from so many exceptional teachers described in the nominating statements - "this was hard!" said one judge.

• Stacey Boyd, Bay Area founder of the Savvy Source, an online resource
  for preschools nationwide
• Rona Renner, RN, parent educator, temperament specialist and
  host of Childhood Matters Radio Show on 98.1 KISS-FM
• Ramee Serwanga, formerly of The Room to Grow preschool in Oakland,
  and a winner of the 2009 "Preschool Teachers Make a Difference" award

Transport yourself and the whole family to East Africa on Sunday, July 18 and experience a vacation's worth of food, music, art, culture and activities without even getting a passport! Habitot's "Taste of Africa" event will help raise funds for a new interactive play exhibit being developed jointly with Jiji la Watoto.

There will be crafts and games for kids, a silent auction, vendors selling African arts and crafts, a fashion show and children's dance performance. Advance tickets are $25 for adults and $12 for children. For more information or to purchase tickets, click here.

Habitot has long sought to reestablish its traveling exhibit program in order to reach more vulnerable families and children in low-income communities that lack safe and appropriate play opportunities. A recent grant from an anonymous East Bay foundation will fund a pilot project sending two of Habitot's exhibits into the San Antonio area of Oakland.

Habitot is collaborating with Lotus Bloom, a nonprofit providing playgroup experiences for a diverse group of families in the neighborhood. Other grants are pending to support staff and programming to accompany the exhibits.

Parents looking for a caregiver this coming fall are invited to an open house at Habitot on Saturday, August 7.

As a community service, Habitot will bring together experienced, Habitot-loving caregivers and families seeking a caregiver for a meet-and-greet. A nominal fee of $6 per family will cover Habitot's costs to host the event in our classroom annex.

To register, please contact Lydia at 510-647-1111 x 14 or call habitotvsc@gmail.com