This week - the first Monday through Sunday in May - is Public Service Recognition Week (www.theroundtable.org/psrw.html), a time set-aside since 1985 to recognize the work of federal, state and local government employees. Many agencies, in turn, use the week to educate those outside government about the ways in which government serves the people and how government services make life better for all of us.

In Washington, DC, part of that education begins today at 10 a.m. on the National Mall where more than 100 government agencies, non-profit organizations and private companies exhibit and celebrate the innovation and quality of work performed by public employees.

During the four-day event, kids are able to meet a NASA astronaut, climb aboard an F-16, take home free buttons, coloring posters, maps and puzzles. Adults can search job databases of government agencies, get information on social security, receiving free health screening tests, and better understand how agencies respond to their missions. Both HUD and Ginnie Mae will have booths on the Mall.

And all the while, government employees are on hand to answer questions about what they do and why they have chosen public service careers.

The event is located on the Mall between the National Gallery of Art and the Air and Space Museum.