Several animals, including snakes, and zoo personnel will be on hand to answer questions about the animals, their habits and their habitats starting at 10 a.m. at the village at 12700 Van Nuys Blvd.

"This is a great opportunity for the children not only to have their own petting zoo for a day, but to be exposed to the zoo in general," said Gerry Luethy, a family environmental sciences professor and one of the village's organizers. "It¹s going to be a great day, the kid are all very excited. They heard they are going to be bringing snakes."

The Pacoima Urban Village is a one-stop family center created with the support of Cal State Northridge's Family Environmental Sciences faculty and students to help improve the quality of the education of the children in Pacoima.

The center started at the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center to provide much needed services to the families of the school's students. The center quickly grew so large that it now operates out of its own facility in the Pierce/Van Nuys Apartment complex.

The Pacoima Urban Village provides adult education, social services, health care for the students' families and Learn through Play, a FES/Family Studies Option Saturday program. The center also offers developmentally appropriate learning experiences for children ages 2 to 12. Approximately 20 CSUN students, under the direction of Luethy, work in the village, coordinating and administering its outreach program.

For more information about the Pacoima Urban Village, call (818) 834-9557.