LAUP on July 13 honored six outstanding educators as recipients of the prestigious "Los Angeles County Preschool Teacher of the Year Awards," for going above and beyond the call of duty to better prepare students for school and life.

First 5 LA, LAUP's primary funder, has agreed to allocate $3 million to allow LAUP to continue funding its Early Childhood Education Workforce Initiative (WFI) projects that were launched three years ago.

About 130 people attended the 2010 Teacher Graduation Recognition Event on July 17 to celebrate LAUP preschool teachers who recently attained their Associate, Bachelor's or Master's degrees from area colleges and universities.

In 2006, Lynwood Unified School District (LUSD) had two preschool classrooms serving about 150 students. Today, four years later, LUSD has 12 preschool classrooms where about 550 students are receiving a quality early childhood education each year.

California started its new fiscal year on July 1. However, as was the case for the past several years, the state yet to pass a budget. With lawmakers still at odds on how to close the $19 billion deficit, a budget deal is not expected anytime soon.

Parents may not realize their preschool-aged children are overweight or even obese, if a pediatrician hasn't told them it's a problem, a study by the University of South Florida and Johns Hopkins University reports.

It's the kids. We do it for the kids. And that is where your donation goes: to programs, classrooms and quality education that directly benefits the kids of Los Angeles County. Your investment in the children of our community pays a lifetime of positive returns. Your donation, no matter what size, helps another child move that much closer to obtaining a high-quality preschool education, which prepares them for a successful future thanks to the proven benefits of preschool education. On behalf of all the children of LAUP, we thank you for your donation and welcome you to the LAUP family.