The animating idea behind the Black Box Performance Project is deceptively simple. Its director, Tamara Salkin, said she and her co-founder, Amanda Jones, wondered what would happen if they stripped away all the usual adornments and detailed instructions that their youth actors usually get — the elaborate sets and costumes, the meticulous orders on where to stand, how to move, what to think — and instead challenged them to come up with most everything themselves.

Then, switching the point of view yet again, what would happen for the audience if you lessened the focus on the spectacle and trained it even more on the student actors and their work?

After nearly two months of rehearsals for “Antigone Now,” Melissa Cooper’s modern adaptation of the Greek tragedy “Antigone” by Sophocles, Ms. Salkin thinks the emerging answers are precisely what she hoped. 

“I think it proves that you don’t need all that extra stuff to have a really powerful experience at the theater,” Ms. Salkin said of the Black Box production, which will be performed on Friday, Dec. 14, and Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. at the Southampton Cultural Center.

“I asked the students at the beginning, ‘Have you ever been allowed to make your own choices?’ ” Ms. Salkin said. “And there were some ‘Hmms.’ Some shuffling of feet. . . . What we’re doing is educational theater. Here, they’re doing really deep script analysis, thinking about why their characters say what they say, the motivation behind their actions. These are things that professional actors do that they’ve never really done.”

All of the actors in the Black Box Performance Project auditioned for their roles. Some work with Ms. Salkin through South Fork Performing Arts, the company she and Ms. Jones started. The cast ranges in age from a seventh grader, Dakota Quackenbush of East Hampton, who performed recently in “Evita” at Bay Street Theater, to Madeline Kane, a senior at Pierson High School in Sag Harbor who has an onstage part in “Antigone Now” and was also instrumental in suggesting some of the staging ideas that Ms. Salkin called “brilliant.”

One of those ideas was to have the traditional Greek chorus from the time of Sophocles reimagined and staged in a coffee shop. “Which was perfect, because where else do you go today when you want to gossip and discuss things with friends?” Ms. Salkin said with a laugh.

The goal throughout the process, she said, is for her young actors to have an immersive educational experience in all aspects of production as well as a performance experience, a combination that mirrors her own career path. Ms. Salkin, 34, is an actress as well as a director. She appeared most recently in “The Money Shot” at the Southampton Cultural Center. She also has a master’s degree in educational theater.

She grew up in Southampton, now lives in Sag Harbor, and said East End schools provide opportunities for young people who want to act — if not full-time jobs for teachers certified to teach theater arts.

“So I thought, ‘How can I be a part of a theater where kids are learning, not just performing?’ ” she said. The result was Black Box, with its spare sets and staging and sound (which Ms. Jones is overseeing).

“And I couldn’t be more excited,” Ms. Salkin said, thinking back to last weekend’s three dress rehearsals. “What it’s shown is the concept of Black Box works.”

General admission to “Antigone Now” is $15, or $10 for students under 21. Tickets can be purchased at scc-arts.org or by phone.

Hayground’s “As You Like It”

As the culmination of Shakespeare and Company’s 20th annual residency at the Hayground School in Bridgehampton, five professional actors from the Berkshire, Mass., troupe will join Hayground student actors in presenting two performances of “As You Like It,” today at 1 and 6 p.m. at Guild Hall in East Hampton. The programs are open to the public; tickets are $10 per family.

“Antigone Now” in Southampton

The Black Box Performance Project will stage two performances of Melissa Cooper’s play “Antigone Now” tomorrow and Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Southampton Cultural Center. Set in a bombed-out city, the play is a contemporary response to the myth of Antigone, who attempted to secure a respectable burial for her brother against her uncle’s will. 

Seventh through 12th graders from across the South Fork make up the cast. Tamara Salkin directs the production. Tickets are $15, $10 for students under 21.

High School Playwrights Fest

The Young Artists and Writers Project’s annual High School Playwrights Festival will take place on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Stony Brook Southampton’s Avram Theater. 

This year’s festival features five short plays written by and starring students from the Bridgehampton School, Pierson High School, and the project’s summer workshops, and directed by professionals. 

Students were mentored by writing and theater professionals connected with Stony Brook Southampton’s M.F.A. program in creative writing and literature. Emma Walton Hamilton is the executive director of the Young Arts and Writers Program; Will Chandler is its program director. Ms. Hamilton, a co-founder of Bay Street Theater, is a best-selling children’s book author, editor, arts educator, and director of the Southampton Children’s Literature Fellows Program. Mr. Chandler, a screenwriter and teaching artist, was formerly an education director at Bay Street.

The Avram Theater is in the Fine Arts Building on campus. Admission to the festival is free; for reservations email: [email protected].

“Mixed Nuts” at Bay Street

Dorothy and the Tin Man will meet Clara and the Nutcracker this weekend at Bay Street Theater when the young dancers of Studio 3 perform “Mixed Nuts.” The program combines elements of “The Nutcracker” with “The Wizard of Oz,” while mixing ballet with other dance styles. Show times are tomorrow and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. Tickets cost $25. 

Zines and ’Za

Guild Hall’s Teen Arts Council will host a workshop on creating zines with Brianna Ashe, an East Hampton artist, on Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. Participants will work on their own zines, in whatever medium suits them, but have been asked to supply old magazines for collaging. Pizza will be served, and there will be raffle prizes. The program is free, but advance registration has been requested through Guild Hall. 

For Young Birders

The South Fork Natural History Museum’s Young Birders Club will meet on Saturday at 10 a.m. in Bridgehampton. Open to kids 8 to 18, the club meets monthly to learn about birds and their local habitats. The club’s advisers are Miles Todaro and Frank Quevedo, the museum’s executive director. Those who attend on Saturday have been asked to take binoculars and field guides to birds of the eastern United States if possible.

On Saturday at 1 p.m., families have been invited to help decorate the museum’s trees for birds with ornaments made of seeds, suet, and dried fruits. Shoeboxes have been recommended so attendees can take decorations home for their own outdoor trees. There is a $5 materials fee per person.

Families with children 6 and older will study mammals and how they move in a drawing class on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the museum. Tara Smith, an artist, will lead the program, teaching not only drawing techniques but also features of animal anatomy. 

Registration ahead of time has been requested for all programs. 

Big Questions, Simple Fun

Sock puppets, life’s big questions, and cupcakes round out the schedule of youth programming at the East Hampton Library this week.

In the library’s Socrates Cafe program on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m., high school students will ponder some deep thoughts in a discussion session meant to get them thinking. “This is not a debate, or an attempt to change anyone’s point of view,” the library website says, “but a chance for philosophical conversation.” Coffee, tea, and hot cocoa will be served. 

Moving on to simpler things, kids 4 and older will turn cupcakes into elves with tasty materials provided by the library on Tuesday at 4 p.m. Each participant will be able to take home three cupcakes. 

Using acrylic paint pens, high school students can decorate mugs for themselves or as gifts on Wednesday from 3 to 5 p.m. in the young-adult room. In a puppet craft program for ages 6 to 9 on Wednesday, kids will use socks, craft foam, and pompoms to create their own characters. Snowflakes made from Popsicle sticks will be the craft during a family program next Thursday at 4 p.m. 

Advance sign-up has been requested for most programs. 

Gift Ideas

Children and teens looking to make something special to give as a gift for the holidays can do so at the Hampton Library in Bridgehampton this week. Kids in sixth grade and above can stop by today and tomorrow from 3:30 to 5 p.m. to make sugar body scrubs for themselves or someone else. Homemade candles will be the project on weekdays at the same time next week. 

For those 4 and older, a winter cardinal craft program tomorrow at 4 p.m. might yield a thoughtful gift. Sparkly icicle decorations, being made on Friday, Dec. 21, at the same time, could provide a last-minute touch to the Christmas decorations. A movie night for kids in sixth grade and up will kick off the Christmas break on Friday, Dec. 21. On tap: Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” Showtime is 6:30.

Wally and “Elf”

Wally the dog will be on hand to listen to new readers 4 and older on Saturday at 10 a.m. at the John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor. 

On Sunday, the much-loved Christmas movie “Elf,” starring Will Farrell, will be shown at 1 p.m. This program is for teens and tweens, who have been invited to wear their pajamas. Popcorn and hot cocoa will be served. Advance registration, though not required, can be done online. 

Escape the Library

Kids in kindergarten and up will make spoon snowmen using paint, ribbon, and pompoms on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Montauk Library. Later that day, at 3:30, grades 4 through 12 can test their mystery-solving powers in an Escape the Library interactive game. “Find the hidden objects, figure out the clues, and solve the puzzles to earn your freedom,” the library writes. 

Katherine C.H.E. will lead children 1 to 4 and their caregivers in a session of music and movement on Tuesday at 11:45 a.m.

“Jolly Jamboree”

Goat on a Boat at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor will spread some cheer on Saturday at 11 a.m. during “The Joyfully Jolly Jamboree,” a puppet show with holiday tunes both original and classic. Tickets start at $15. 

The Goat on a Boat show on Dec. 29 will be “Go Home Tiny Monster,” presented by the Gottabees. 

Vacation Art Workshops

The Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill is offering holiday vacation art workshops for kids 5 and older from Wednesday through Friday, Dec. 28.

Wednesday’s sessions will focus on portraits of friends and family, next Thursday’s on negative and positive space black-and-white collages, and the final one on narrative painting with tempera paint. 

Each workshop will begin with a tour of “Every Picture Tells a Story,” an exhibition of works from the museum’s permanent collection. Workshops for 5 and 6-year-olds will run from 10 a.m. to noon, those for ages 7 and older from 1 to 3 p.m. The cost is $40 per session, $30 for members, and advance registration is required. 

A light-based family workshop inspired by the exhibition “Keith Sonnier: Until Today” will have participants making an illuminated work of art with LED bulbs, batteries, and copper tape on Friday, Dec. 28, at 6 p.m. The workshop is free with museum admission. Registration ahead of time is required. 

Latkes and Confetti

Hanukkah may be over, but it’s always a good time for potato pancakes (latkes), and on Saturday kids 3 and older can make their own at the Children’s Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton. Kids will measure, mix, shape, and taste these treats, which are traditional at Hanukkah. The workshop starts at 10 a.m. and costs $20, including museum admission, or $7 for members.

Looking ahead to New Year’s Eve, the museum will hold its popular ball drop for kids at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., each building up to what the museum describes as “a confetti-filled countdown.” The party costs $14 and is free for museum members, but reservations are a must. 

Library Sleepover

High school students have been invited to a sleepover at the East Hampton Library on Saturday night. Kids will play card and video games, watch movies, and enjoy pizza starting at 7 p.m. Permission slips are required and must be dropped off at the young-adult desk by tomorrow at 5 p.m.

Two family movies will be shown on the library’s big screen next week: “Sherlock Gnomes” on Wednesday at 3 p.m. and “Christopher Robin” next Thursday at the same time. 

Also next Thursday, kids 4 and older will use felt, fabric, and other materials to make festive puppets at 1 p.m.

Friday, Dec. 28, will bring an all-day holiday movie marathon for high school students and a snowflake stamp-making workshop for kids 4 and older. Pajamas have been encouraged for the movie marathon, which takes place from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Hot cocoa and popcorn will be served. In the stamp workshop at 2 p.m., kids will make hanging banners. 

“The Nutcracker in Harlem”

T.E. McMorrow, a Montauk journalist and writer, will read from and sign his children’s book “The Nutcracker in Harlem” on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Montauk Library. The book is a jazz-age retelling of “The Nutcracker,” with illustrations by James Ransome. Copies will be available for purchase. 

Whether it’s a white Christmas or not, next Thursday kids in kindergarten and up can imagine a snowy scene in a winter wonderland collage workshop at the library at 4:30 p.m. On Friday, Dec. 28, Lego builders will gather to create whatever they can dream up at 3:30 p.m. 

“The Polar Express”

The animated classic “The Polar Express” will be shown at the John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor on Saturday at 2 p.m. 

On Sunday, kids in fourth through eighth grade will square off in a decorating contest at 1:30 p.m. to determine who is the “cupcake champion.” Cupcakes and toppings will be supplied.

Bringing a Book to Life

At the Children’s Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton on Saturday, families with 3 to 8-year-olds will be treated to an interactive reading of Odessa Arriola’s “The Art Inside.” Ms. Arriola will read from her book, which was inspired by her own childhood, and bring the story to life with puppets and other props. Afterward, children will make paper puppets and crafts. The program runs from 10:30 a.m. to noon and is free, but advance registration has been encouraged, as space is limited. 

That’s even more the case for the museum’s very popular Halloween bash on Friday, Oct. 26. The party, from 4 to 6 p.m., includes games, crafts, a costume parade, and treats, and it usually sells out early. The cost is $12, but members of the museum get in free. 

Young Birders Club

The South Fork Natural History Museum’s Young Birders Club for kids 8 to 18 will have its first meeting of the fall with a new leader, Miles Todaro, on Saturday at 10 a.m. in Bridgehampton. Participants have been asked to take binoculars if they have them. While Mr. Todaro will take the lead, he’ll be joined by two expert birders, Frank Quevedo, the museum’s director, and Barbara Blaisdell. The club meets on the third Saturday of each month.

Also on Saturday, at 10:30 a.m., families with children 6 and older can learn to make animal origami, from the simple to the complex, with the museum’s Crystal Oakes. There is a $3 materials fee. 

On Sunday at 10:30 a.m., little ones ages 3 to 5 have been invited to join museum educators as they feed the resident animals, and in the process they’ll learn about food webs and the difference between herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores. 

Advance registration has been requested for all programs. 

“Frankenstein Follies”

Stages, a Children’s Theatre Workshop, will present its annual Halloween show, “Frankenstein Follies,” at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor starting on Friday, Oct. 26. Show times are 7:30 on opening night, 2 and 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 27, and 2 p.m. on Oct. 28. Tickets cost $15. 

Halloween at the Libraries

Not surprisingly, there’s a decided Halloween bent in library programs this week, with monsters, bats, masks, and ghosts figuring prominently. 

The East Hampton Library will host a family screening of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” today at 4 p.m. On Wednesday at 4 p.m., a Halloween story time for 4 to 7-year-olds will be followed by a clothespin bat craft. Next Thursday, children have been invited to arrive in costume for a 4 p.m. session at which they will decorate trick-or-treat bags and paint pumpkins. 

Off the theme, sixth through eighth graders can use old CDs to make shiny works of art next Tuesday at 4 p.m. 

At the Hampton Library in Bridgehampton, a bat bookmark workshop for ages 4 and up will unfold tomorrow at 4 p.m. The Halloween classic “Beetlejuice” will be screened at a movie night for grades six and older tomorrow at 6:30. On Tuesday grades six and up can use old books to make spooky decorations from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. There will also be two opportunities for mask making next week: on Wednesday, when ages 7 to 12 can work on Mardi Gras-style masks, and at 4 p.m. and on Friday, Oct. 26, when those 4 and older can sink their teeth into monster masks. 

Another Halloween classic, “Hocus Pocus,” starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy, will be shown at the Montauk Library on Saturday at 2 p.m., and snacks will be available. All ages will be welcomed, and reservations are not required. Lori Hubbard will make Halloween the theme of her music and movement program for ages 1 to 5 next Thursday at 11:30 a.m. at the library. 

And while it’s not until the following weekend, teens and tweens may want to start brainstorming now for the Montauk Library’s own version of the popular “Chopped” TV cooking competition. This one, on Oct. 27 at 3 p.m., is called Chopped: Spooky Edition. Kids in third grade and above will use mystery ingredients to make tasty treats to wow the judges.

East Hampton

The East Hampton Middle School PTA will sponsor a Halloween dance for seventh and eighth graders tomorrow from 7 to 9 p.m. 

Students at the John M. Marshall Elementary School will finish classes early on Wednesday to join in a Halloween parade at 2:30 p.m. 

Sag Harbor

Red Ribbon Week, which focuses on healthy choices, is coming to a close for Pierson Middle School students. Activities have focused on a different theme each day. Today’s focus is healthy hobbies. Tomorrow, students will wear colors assigned to them for a color war in the gym. 

The Sag Harbor School Board will have a business meeting on Monday at 6:30 p.m. in the Pierson library. 

Bridgehampton

At the Bridgehampton School, a recent collaboration with the Stony Brook Trauma Center, Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, and members of Bridgehampton’s emergency medical services helped provide faculty and staff members with lifesaving skills to use in an emergency. As part of the nationwide Stop the Bleed campaign, school personnel are now trained and equipped in case of an emergency involving bleeding.

Three Bridgehampton students and their coach, Vinny Alversa, are celebrating wins along with their teams in Brookhaven Town’s fall baseball championships. Kris and Scott Vinski played for the Bonac 14-and-under team, and Kai Alversa played for the East End Tomahawks, an 11-and-under team. 

Earlier this month, the school’s concert band performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the Bridgehampton Museum’s annual antique car rally. 

The Notebook

Amagansett 

Amagansett students will march in costume during their annual Rag-a-Muffin parade on Wednesday at 2 p.m. 

—

Montauk 

The Montauk School is finishing up Red Ribbon Week. Tonight parents and students have been invited to a drumming session with Sowah Mensah, from Ghana, at 6:30. Parents have also been invited to an assembly tomorrow at 1 p.m. at which students will perform with the drummer. 

—

Springs

The Springs School will have its first-ever homecoming rally during eighth period today in advance of a number of after-school games. “This year we have more students playing fall sports than ever before, and we wanted to celebrate that,” the district said on its website. The school band will perform.

Then, after school, the boys soccer team faces Pierson at 4 p.m., the girls tennis team faces Southampton at 4:15 at Sportime, and the girls soccer team plays Southold at 4:30. The PTA will sell refreshments, and school “spirit swag” will be available for under $5. 

A Halloween dance will be held tomorrow from 7 to 9 p.m. Entry is $5, and students must have permission slips. 

On Monday, Officer Kim Notel of the East Hampton Town Police Department will talk about Halloween safety with students in kindergarten through fourth grade. Pedestrian safety will be the focus of assemblies during gym class on Tuesday. 

The school’s Halloween parade on Wednesday will commence at 2 p.m.

—

Wainscott

Wainscott School students will be dismissed at 11 a.m. next Thursday and Friday, Nov. 2, for parent-teacher conferences.

“Follies” at Bay Street

Stages, a Children’s Theatre Workshop, will present “Frankenstein Follies,” a Halloween-theme musical revue tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday at the Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor.

Featuring young performers, the production is directed and choreographed by Helene Leonard and has been presented each Halloween season for 24 years. 

Show times are tomorrow at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15. 

Monster Mash

Camp SoulGrow will host a Halloween Monster Mash for kids 7 and older at its downtown Montauk studio on Saturday. Children have been invited to attend in costume, of course, and there will be games, music, food, and candy. The party runs from 6 to 8 p.m. and is free. 

Family Fun Day

Costumes are also encouraged at the East Hampton Kiwanis Club’s annual Family Fun Day on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the American Legion Hall in Amagansett. There will be costume prizes for those dubbed best dressed.

The day includes pony rides, pumpkin and face painting, bounce houses, drip painting with the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center, train rides, food, magic, and live music. Tulip the Clown will do balloon crafts and the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons will be on hand with its mobile adoption unit. Tickets are $5 per person. 

Ragamuffin Romp

Ambitious families might also be able to join in the Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce’s annual Ragamuffin Parade on Sunday at 1 p.m. The parade of costumed revelers begins at the corner of Main and Nassau Streets by the Sag Harbor Laundromat and cuts a colorful swath down Main Street to the Customs House, where the party continues on the lawn.  

On Wednesday, business district stores participating in Pumpkin Trail trick-or-treating from 3 to 5 p.m. can be identified by pumpkin faces in their windows. 

Halloween and Then Some

Halloween fun is also on the agendas at the John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor and Hampton Library in Bridgehampton. 

John Jermain will host a Halloween Fair on Saturday from noon to 2 p.m. Games, crafts, and treats are promised, but those with food allergies should check with the library first to learn if the program is suitable for them. The library has asked that costumes not include weapons. 

Looking past the holiday, a chess club for kindergarten through sixth grade will start next Thursday from 4 to 5 p.m. It will meet weekly through Dec. 20. Players at all levels will be welcomed, and those who have their own chessboards and timers have been asked to bring them along.

At the Hampton Library, kids 4 and older can make monster masks tomorrow at 4. A Halloween story time and parade through the Bridgehampton business district happens on Saturday at 10 a.m., and on Monday from 3:30 to 5 p.m. there’s Halloween karaoke for grades six and up. Tuesday brings a Halloween edition of the Escape Room challenge at 3:30 p.m., also for grades six and up. On Friday, Nov. 2, kids 4 and older can do scarecrow craft at 4 p.m.

L.V.I.S. Open House

The East Hampton Ladies Village Improvement Society will host a Halloween open house on Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. for younger children. There will be storytelling, treats, and a chance to check out the society’s antique dollhouse specially decorated for the occasion. 

Not Just for Kids

At the East Hampton Library, Monday will bring a Halloween-theme 3-D printing session for high school students from 3 to 5 p.m., and on Tuesday from 5 to 7, it’s Scary Movie Night, also for high schoolers. Popcorn and other refreshments will be provided and those who attend may take their own food, too. 

A family screening of the Disney classic “The Fox and the Hound” will take place next Thursday at 4 p.m. That night at 6, high school students are invited to face off against the youth library in a Kahoot pop culture trivia challenge at 6 p.m.

While it’s not only for kids, the Haunted Library event, happening on Saturday from 7 to 9 p.m., bears a brief mention here (find more on the East Hampton page). Children younger than 10 will not be admitted, but middle and high school students will. 

Chopped: Spooky Edition

Kids in third grade and above who like to get creative in the kitchen may enjoy the Montauk Library’s Chopped: Spooky Edition, a Halloween-theme take on the popular “Chopped” TV show, on Saturday from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Participants will make an appetizer and a dessert using mystery ingredients. Space is limited.

A new chess club for students in kindergarten through 12th grade will start up at the library on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Paul Dooher will work with players at all levels to improve their games. 

Creepy Crawly Cool

Spiders are the stuff of spooky decorations and creepy crawly nightmares, and there may be good reason for that. According to the South Fork Natural History Museum, “spiders are one of the top predators for their size and are often capable of taking down prey much larger than themselves.”

The museum’s Miles Todaro will delve into that and much more during a program on spiders and how they catch their prey on Sunday at 2 p.m. A spider-theme craft will follow. There is a $3 materials fee and advance registration is requested. 

Portfolio Review

Michael Combs, an artist and professor at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, will lead a free portfolio review workshop for 10th through 12th graders on Saturday at Guild Hall. 

Mr. Combs will offer students interested in pursuing art at the college level some guidance and tips on presenting and curating their work for the art school admission process. The workshop runs from noon to 1:30 p.m. and is free, but advance registration is required.  

Auditioning and Résumés

Young thespians mark your calendars: NexGen Youth Theatre, run by Bethany Dellapolla and Magnus Tonning Riise, is offering two classes at the Bay Street Theater for ages 10 to adulthood on Nov. 5. 

Audition technique will be the focus of a workshop from 4 to 7 p.m., while a 7 to 8 p.m. session will deal with making a résumé. In the first, singers will be asked to perform two short, contrasting musical theater songs and actors two short, contrasting monologues. They will be coached on their selections and offered tips on how to choose and prepare them. The cost is $100. In the later session, which costs $40, actors will get tips on how to write and format an acting résumé for an audition. Participants are asked to take a laptop and to have their credits handy. 

Ms. Dellapolla, who directs musicals at Pierson Middle and High School, is an actress, teacher, director, and choreographer who splits her time between here and New York City. She has performed on stage, screen, and radio. Mr. Riise, an arts teacher, had his first professional theater job at the age of 8 in Norway. He has performed on stage and screen ever since. 

Registration is at nexgentheatre.com. 

In Love With Shakespeare

And speaking of theater, or should we say theatre, Kate Mueth and Susan Stout of the Neo-Political Cowgirls will lead a Young Cowgirls Speak the Bard workshop on Tuesdays starting Nov. 6 at Guild Hall. The workshop will explore the language of Shakespeare through journaling, theater games, movement, and performance. 

It will meet every Tuesday through Dec. 18, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., with an additional session on Dec. 17. It is open to girls and female-identifying children 8 to 12. The cost is $300, $290 for museum members. Registration is at npccowgirls.org.

The Bridgehampton School Board voted unanimously on Oct. 17 to award all four contracts for the expansion and renovation of the school, clearing the way for the project to begin by November. If any funds go unspent by the end of the project, they will be used to pay down the district’s debt.

Stalco Construction, a New York City company with offices in Islandia, won the general contractor bid of $18.54 million, by far the largest portion of the project. Stalco is a 26-year-old company that specializes in institutional, medical, and commercial construction. Some of its recent, similarly scaled projects include Long Beach High School and Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn.

A $1.974-million electrical contract went to Palace Electrical Contractors of Wantagh.

Central Air Heating and Cooling of Roslyn Heights received a $3.4-million contract to handle the school’s HVAC systems, and Ambrosio and Company, which is based in Ronkonkoma, landed a $1.16-million plumbing contract.

The contracts totaled $25.07 million, comfortably under the $29.4 million that district residents approved in two separate bond votes, the first in late 2016 and the second in September. The September vote, seeking an additional $4.74 million, was needed because cost increases had occurred during the district’s yearlong wait to get its building permit from the state, a prerequisite to soliciting bids. 

Robert Hauser, the district superintendent, said in a phone interview before the board’s vote that the placement of construction barriers on school grounds should be the first change parents and students are likely to see. The district hopes to complete the work in time for the 2020-21 school year.

Once completed, the project is scheduled to double the size of the 80-year-old building to approximately 35,000 square feet, update its mechanical systems, install geothermal heating, and add badly needed classroom space, as well as adding a new library, cafeteria, gym, and locker rooms and music rooms. The prekindergarten will be moved into the main building and out of the 40-year-old modular classrooms on the west side of the building.

“We’re the only school district on the East End that has not done capital improvement in the last 25 years, and we are direly in need,” Lillian Tyree-Johnson, vice president of the Bridgehampton Board of Education, told the audience at a public forum before the September bond vote.

At present, 229 students from kindergarten through the 12th grade attend the school.

The swift arrest three weeks ago of a 19-year-old Bridgehampton man who is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday to face charges related to posting a Snapchat message that triggered a manhunt for him and caused law enforcement to shut down a Southampton High School homecoming event was an unwanted reminder that the risk of school-related violence is everywhere.

But the Oct. 5 incident involving Kevin S. Chavez was also a chance for local law enforcement and school officials from Southampton to Montauk to see how the precautions they have in place would work in real time, and then consider whether their already robust safety policies need any changes or additions.

“There is collaboration,” Detective Sgt. Herm Lamison of the Southampton Village police said in a phone interview Monday. “In this case, everybody did what they were supposed to do in the moment. We got everybody into the right place at the right time. And it is good to know the training actually works when and if something happens — which we pray it never does.”

The timeline and details of how the Southampton case unfolded according to village police were impressive: A student saw Mr. Chavez’s Snapchat post showing three males in a vehicle with what appeared to be an AR-15 assault rifle, accompanied by the message “pulling up to SH after homecoming.” The student quickly alerted school officials shortly after 9:30 p.m. rather than dismissing the threat outright.

There were about 110 students at a homecoming after-party that Saturday night at the school on Narrow Lane. More than 20 officers, including New York State police and Southampton Town police equipped with AR-15 rifles and two K-9 units, assisted village police in rapidly securing the perimeter around the campus. They also closed off the entire street. The school was put in “lockout” mode, meaning no one could enter or leave the building until the threat was considered over. 

As all of that was happening, police were simultaneously able to quickly pinpoint Mr. Chavez’s whereabouts that night and arrest him in East Hampton at 11:56 p.m. — or about two and a half hours after his online post was reported. Police said they were also able to quickly locate the weapon he posed with — a Sig Sauer Airgun, which looks like an AR-15, the assault weapon so often used in mass shootings in this country. But the airgun shoots round, dome, or hollow-point pellets.

Mr. Chavez was charged with a misdemeanor in connection with the incident. He was also taken to undergo a psychological evaluation at Stony Brook University Hospital. 

His scheduled hearing on Tuesday will be in Southampton Village Justice Court.

“I think for a long time everybody thought this couldn’t happen out east,” Debra Winter, superintendent of the Springs School, said Monday. “With the Southampton incident, you can’t ignore it. You have to say, ‘It could happen out here.’ I think all the time about Sandy Hook [a mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., where 20 children and six adults died in 2012]. That was an elementary school in an upper-scale community. . . . In Southampton, you have to credit the students that came forward. That is where this was really foiled. It’s something we all try to teach.”

Even before Mr. Chavez’s post and arrest, local schools have constantly been evaluating their policies and implementing changes to fit their districts.

As a starting point, every public school in New York State is required to comply with Project SAVE (Safe Schools Against Violence in Education) legislation. The law mandates that each district implement a detailed action plan for emergencies. A follow-up law, the New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act of 2013 (or SAFE Act), was written and passed in 2013 in response to the Sandy Hook killings and another shooting in Webster, N.Y. At the time, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo described the SAFE Act as the toughest gun control law in the United States.

Today, the East Hampton and Montauk School Districts post their entire safety plans on their district websites so anyone can see the measures in place. The plans include things such as mandatory staff training, regular emergency response drills for teachers and students, and protocols to follow should an incident take place. They are constantly rehearsed and reviewed.

Many local schools also have hired armed or unarmed security guards during the day, and some make accommodations for after-school monitoring, sometimes with the help of groups like Project Most, the nonprofit that runs after-school programs at Springs and the John M. Marshall Elementary School in East Hampton. The guards are often retired police.

Montauk is one of the schools that has armed guards in place.

“A secure feeling at school mentally, emotionally, and physically, should be a right, not a privilege nationwide,” 

Jack Perna, superintendent of Montauk School, said, noting that Montauk had guards in place the first school day after the Parkland School shootings in Florida on Feb. 14, but funding disparities among districts “don’t always mean that’s possible everywhere. And that’s unfair.”

“By the way, I’m also not looking for teachers to carry guns,” Mr. Perna added. “That’s crazy. You get someone trained who knows what should be done.”

Ms. Winter, who has been at the Springs School just over a year, invited a retired Suffolk County detective to walk through the school and observe its emergency drills, including lockout and lockdown protocols. Then the school acted on his recommendations and installed a security system and card reader in the main vestibule that not only requires visitors to be buzzed in, but can scan visitors’ driver’s licenses and state-issued identification cards to check against lists of known criminals. Visitors without appointments cannot enter.

At the Bridgehampton School, which also uses a buzz-in security system, the superintendent, Robert Hauser, reported to the school board a few weeks ago about one of the initiatives the district is working on in conjunction with the Suffolk County Executive’s office. It’s a personal safety app for students’ phones called RAVE. Mr. Hauser said the district is working to customize the app more before making it available for downloading. When in use, it has a GPS-type location service and shows a user’s location and pushes their 911 call to the head of the line for faster help. 

Even on a student level, the safety messages aren’t confined to apps, or running practice drills, or even telling students if you see something, say something — an important pillar of the safety plan that worked so well in the Southampton case. 

Many local schools are also working actively with students on consciousness-raising initiatives such as actively encouraging empathy for others, or discouraging bullying. They teach children to be advocates for classmates. They’re encouraging them to report abuse or domestic violence at home, or fears that someone they know will show up at school.

Montauk is among the schools holding a Red Ribbon Week this week that the district’s website described as “A time when our entire Montauk School community comes together to help our students develop good habits early in life to help them achieve future success” and “promote our theme: Life is a journey . . . kindness begins with me.”

“It’s a message we try to teach every day,” Mr. Perna said. “It’s not always associated with something you do for school safety. But it is. If even one kid stops and thinks before saying something, or they see something and say something as they did in Southampton, then maybe we did help somebody.”

Watermill Center’s Family Day

The choreographer Alvaro Restrepo and the dance company El Colegio del Cuerpo, artists in residence at the Watermill Center, will perform “Animal Family,” a work in progress, during a family day at the center on Saturday. 

The piece includes music by Max Richter based on Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons,” and features Mexican animal masks, costumes by Olga Piedrahita, and paintings by Leopoldo Combariza. El Colegio del Cuerpo was founded in Cartagena, Colombia, by Mr. Restrepo, who is Colombian, and Marie-France Delieuvin, who is French. 

After the 1 p.m. performance, the artists will lead a mask and movement workshop. The program is intended for families with children 8 and older. It is free, but reservations are required via watermillcenter.org, as space is limited. 

Dia de los Muertos

The Montauk Library will celebrate the Mexican Day of the Dead this afternoon at 4 with music, dancing, and traditional treats. The holiday is a colorful occasion when families honor relatives who have died with festive foods, sweet creations, and music. Participants in this afternoon’s program will have a chance to sample sugar skulls and “bread of the dead.” 

The Art Nanny will be at the library on Saturday to lead kids as they create their own watercolors. A session for children 2 to 5 will take place at 1 p.m. At 2:30, the Art Nanny will turn her attention to children in kindergarten through fifth grade. Advance registration is required.

Library Sleepover

High school students have been invited to a sleepover at the East Hampton Library on Saturday beginning at 7 p.m. Signed permission slips to take part in this special opportunity must be returned to the library no later than 5 p.m. tomorrow. Participants have been asked to take snacks to share, sleeping bags, and any “bed assortments” they need for a comfy night. 

A Polaroid camera program on Monday from 3 to 5 p.m. will have high school students exploring East Hampton as they capture the spirit of fall on film (or their smartphones). 

Virtual Expeditions 

The John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor has invited kids in fifth through 12th grade to go along on immersive virtual reality and augmented reality explorations this month using the Good Expedition educational app. Kids in fifth through eighth grade will hit the virtual road today, next Thursday, and Nov. 29 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., visiting the Great Barrier Reef, ancient Egypt, the solar system, and the North Pole, among other destinations. 

Teens will get their chance tomorrow, Friday, Nov. 9, and Nov. 23 from 4 to 4:45 p.m. Tomorrow it’s the solar system, “Salem 1630 Pioneer Village” is the destination on Nov. 9, and on Nov. 23 they’ll get “A First Look at College.” Spaces are limited and advance registration is a must. 

A chess club for kids in kindergarten through sixth grade starts today at 4 p.m. at the library and will continue on most Thursdays through Dec. 20. 

On Saturday, the graphic novel club for fourth through sixth graders will consider Victoria Jamieson’s “All’s Faire in Middle School” at 12:30 p.m. The December novel will be “A Wrinkle in Time,” Madeleine L’Engle’s classic reinterpreted by Hope Larson. 

BMX in Bridgehampton

Blocks, Trucks + Art, which oversees a BMX track at the Hayground School in Bridgehampton, is hosting weekend BMX sessions on the pump track this fall.

Sessions on Saturdays from 10 to 11 a.m. are for kids 4 to 9. There’s an 11 a.m. to noon session for ages 10 to 16, and on Sunday, the riding is for all ages from 1 to 2 p.m. BMX instructors will be on hand to teach kids about navigating the track, basic bike mechanics, and how dirt tracks are sculpted and shaped. 

The cost is $50 per session. Spots can be reserved by emailing Angela De Vincenzo at [email protected]. 

Bulbs for the Holidays

An amaryllis bulb planted right about now should be ready to bloom for the holidays. With that in mind, the Horticultural Alliance of the Hamptons will visit the Amagansett Library tomorrow to lead kids in kindergarten through third grade in a bulb-planting workshop at 4 p.m. Advance sign-up has been requested. 

Open Studio for Teens

Pamela Collins will lead teens as they make collage faces during an open studio at the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill on Saturday. Young artists can drop in between 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Admission is free for students.

Underwater Vehicles

Children can learn how scientists use remote-control underwater vehicles to explore the oceans and then work with an engineer to design one of their own at the South Fork Natural History Museum in Bridgehampton this weekend. 

On Saturday, kids 8 and older will design and build their vehicles from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. On Sunday, also from 10:30 to 12:30, they will finish building and then take the vehicles for a spin. 

Ballots for Books

If Tuesday’s election had your kids asking what all the excitement was about, a workshop on Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Children’s Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton may shed some light on the process. Kids of all ages can search through CMEE’s library for books about our country, voting, and related subjects. Then they will cast their own ballots for the book that deserves to be read aloud. A craft will cap things off.

The program is free, as is a book swap taking place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday in the museum’s lobby. People can take books they’ve read and pick up new ones. There will be bookmark crafts and apple cider. Admission to the museum is not included. 

New Art Workshops

New workshops for kids at the Golden Eagle in East Hampton include a sewing class on Thursdays, community art on Fridays, and morning and afternoon art sessions on Saturdays. 

Kate Gimbel Goldman teaches the sewing class, which meets from 4 to 5 p.m. and is for children 6 and older. Participants can learn to sew or work on more advanced projects like making a doll, vest, or bag. Ms. Gimbel Goldman is also teaching the community workshop on Friday afternoons at 4 for ages 6 to 14. Kids will explore different mediums each week as they make two and three-dimensional works. 

On Saturday morning, classes from 10 to 11 with Virva Hinnemo for kids 6 to 10 will explore “traditional and nontraditional approaches to art,” according to the Golden Eagle website. They will work collaboratively in a variety of mediums. 

Ms. Gimbel Goldman will share teaching duties with Michele Mott during a Saturday afternoon class from 3 to 4 exploring drawing, painting, collage, sculpture, and more. This one is for kids 6 and older. 

The community art class is by donation. The others cost $25 each or $175 for an eight-class card. Registration is at goldeneagleart.com.

Apples and Cinnamon

What could be better on a crisp fall day than the smell of apple pie? The scents of cinnamon and apples will be in the air at the Montauk Library on Saturday when the Baking Coach leads families as they make these tasty treats from scratch. 

The coach will provide everything but the rolling pins, which participants have been asked to provide. Each family will leave the 3 to 5 p.m. session with a ready-to-bake pie. 

A bilingual story time on Wednesday at 11:45 will include songs, finger plays, and stories in English and Spanish. Next Thursday, visitors from the Horticultural Alliance of the Hamptons will guide children in kindergarten through third grade as they plant amaryllis bulbs from 4 to 5 p.m. Finally, on Friday, Nov. 16, it’s Toddler Tango time, a music-and-movement program for children 3 to 5 and their caregivers. Advance registration has been requested for all programs. 

Inspired by Kandinsky

At the East Hampton Library today, kids 6 to 9 will explore the art of Wassily Kandinsky and create their own works inspired by his “Several Circles” at 4 p.m. 

Mason jar lanterns will light the way after a workshop on Tuesday at 4 p.m. for kids 6 and up. On Wednesday at 4 p.m., kids 4 and older can decorate cupcakes to look like turkeys. 

Folks from the Horticultural Alliance of the Hamptons will visit the library next Thursday at 4 p.m. to plant amaryllis bulbs with kindergartners through third graders. Advance sign-up is required for most programs.

Spielberg Movie Night

The Hampton Library in Bridgehampton will host a movie night for kids in sixth grade and above on Friday, Nov. 16, with Steven Spielberg’s “Ready Player One,” rated PG-13. The sci-fi action adventure is set in 2045, when people living in a world of chaos find refuge in a virtual universe. Show time is 6:30.