Yo, Ho, Ho!

Families can spend an hour with Scurvy Stu and the Blood Red Robins on Saturday at the Amagansett Library. Stu and his crew will sing sea chanteys and teach nautical turns of phrase at 3:30 p.m. Advance registration has been requested.

Get Your Card

At the Montauk Library, families who stop by to sign up for a library card on Saturday from 2 to 3:30 p.m. can also partake of games and crafts. Students looking to earn community service credits have been asked to call the library in advance to offer their volunteer services.

Stages Theater Workshops

This week was the first week of rehearsals for the annual Stages production of “Frankenstein Follies,” but it’s not too late for young actors 8 to 18 to sign on for the performance workshop, which meets Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Southampton Town Recreation Center. The workshop culminates in performances at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor on Oct. 24, 25, and 26. The cost is $475 per student.

Children 6 to 9 with their eyes on the stage can join a Stages creative drama workshop on Tuesdays from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at Bay Street, starting Tuesday. The eight-week class will teach the basics of acting and finish with a short play on Nov. 18. The cost is $285 per child. Helene Leonard, the founder and director of Stages, will direct both programs. For registration, she can be reached at 329-1420 or [email protected].

Squirrels and Chipmunks

The South Fork Natural History Museum will lead 3 to 5-year-olds on a squirrel and chipmunk expedition at the Morton Wildlife Refuge in Noyac on Saturday. Starting at 10 a.m., Nicole Cummings will share facts about these creatures and their habits. Advance registration has been requested.

Woof, Woof, Read

Dog lovers 6 to 10 who are learning to read can practice their skills by reading out loud to Cody the dog on Saturday at the John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor. Children can reserve five-minute reading slots between 10:30 and 11:15 a.m. Also on Saturday, from 3 to 4 p.m. the library will throw open its Barbie collection for all 3 to 9-year-olds who wish to play. Reservations are not necessary.

On Sunday, 5 to 9-year-olds can make pencil toppers with pipe cleaners, eyes, and other crafty stuff between 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. Sign-up has been requested in advance.

Owls and Legos

No-sew sock owls will be the craft of choice for kids 4 and up at the East Hampton Library on Saturday from 4 to 5 p.m. On Monday from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., kids in kindergarten through fifth grade can gather for some Lego time at the library. Advance sign-up is required. Next Thursday will bring an autumn story and craft time from 4 to 5 p.m. for kids 4 to 6 with an adult.

At a sparsely attended meeting Tuesday night, the East Hampton School Board discussed enrollment, programs for English language learners, and went over plans to fill the open seat on the board and school lunches, as it had at its last meeting, Sept. 2.

Richard Burns, the district superintendent, said enrollment was holding steady. “It’s a fluid time, with lots of movement back and forth,” he said. The John M. Marshall Elementary School has 625 students, with 352 students at East Hampton Middle School, and 856 at the high school. Elizabeth Reveiz, who directs the district’s English as a second language program, noted that those figures do not include 30 English language learners, who are new to the district and still being assessed for placement.

Ms. Reveiz said a family literacy class, geared toward non-English speaking parents, was again planned for the fall, with beginner, intermediate, and advanced classes. Each group will meet twice-weekly for 15 weeks at a cost of $5 per class. A different workshop, devoted to budgeting and accounting, is also planned for district residents. Those interested can register during school hours or between 6 and 7 p.m. next Tuesday in her office at the high school.

The seat on the board vacated by Patricia Hope in the summer drew attention when J.P. Foster, the board president, clarified what he called recent confusion over a stated preference for someone to apply who has a “financial background, including accounting, municipal finance, and budgeting.”

“It’s not a mandate,” Mr. Foster said. “I want to make sure that’s conveyed to the public.” Nomination letters are due to the district office by Oct. 1. As of yesterday morning, no one had applied, according to Kerri Stevens, the district clerk. The board will make an appointment, which will last until June of next year.

As reported on Sept. 2, since implementing a swipe-card system called NutriKids last year for foods served to students, the district had discovered that it was owed nearly $17,000, and that several students had continued to charge lunches and snacks long after prepaid cards had a zero balance. Following numerous phone calls and letters to parents, Mr. Burns said the outstanding balance, which had been $6,300 when school opened this month, is now down to $2,400. He said the program was still being fine-tuned, and that social workers were helping recoup the owed money. However, money is still owed for about 100 students throughout the district, with Mr. Burns estimating that more than $100 is owed for 15 students and $50 or more for another 20 or 30 students.

Until the matter is resolved or a payment plan established, such students are not eligible to receive hot lunches. According to the district website, they have a choice of either a bagel and cream cheese or peanut butter and jelly or cheese sandwiches. They also are barred from charging for snacks, like cookies or muffins. “A partial payment will surely satisfy us,” Mr. Burns said, nothng that some families had opted for a $5-a-month payment plan. As for free or reduced-price lunches, families that qualify are being urged to apply, with forms due back by Oct. 17.

In other news, the board approved a contract with Charles Westergard as a network systems administrator for the coming year at an annual salary of $140,992. It also approved the appointment of Erin Garvey as a secondary math replacement teacher from now until Nov. 7 at a per diem rate of $262. James Bannon was hired as a new middle school technology teacher at an annual salary of $42,028, and Michael Buquicchio as a library media specialist at an annual salary of $52,535. The board also approved a paid leave for Gina Kraus, an elementary teacher, from Sept. 29 until Dec. 19. Lastly, an annual contract for LitLife, a professional development program related to literacy, was also approved, for $30,000.

Before adjourning the meeting, Stephen Grossman, an attorney, emphatically asked that full-day pre-kindergarten be funded. The district now provides a half-day program at the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center. “The best way to improve achievement is to invest in students when they’re young,” Mr. Grossman said.

Sharing his sentiment, Arthur Grossman, a teacher at the high school, similarly urged: “I hope you’ll take a look at it for the next year.”

Paddlers for Humanity, an East Hampton-based nonprofit organization, has donated more than $80,000 to help fund youth mental health programs during the coming year at a handful of local schools.

During tight budgetary times, when many districts are being asked to do more with less, the money will help ensure that access to mental health programs not only continues, but expands.

Paddlers for Humanity has committed $20,000 for a positive behavior program at the Bridgehampton School, $26,000 for what is called a resiliency education program at East Hampton Middle School, $30,000 to help fund the Family Service League’s early intervention program at the Springs School, and $5,000 to East Hampton High School for students dealing with issues such as bullying and depression.

“Last year, we decided to look at where we could have the most impact. Where is there a need and what’s lacking?” said Fred Doss, one of the organization’s co-founders. He also runs Good Circle, a social commerce platform that enables activism. “We wanted to direct our focus toward something very specific this year.”

In August of 2005, a group of fishermen, surfers, and others paddled 18 miles from the Montauk Lighthouse to Block Island — and back again. In addition to the physical challenge, the event raised money for a cancer support organization, and the Montauk to Block Island annual paddle quickly grew in size.

By 2008, Ed Cashin, Fred Doss, Scott Bradley, and Lars Svanberg harnessed its popularity and created Paddlers for Humanity. Over the last six years, the organization has raised more than $850,000 through sporting events and challenges.

Though the organization has focused on bettering the lives of children since its inception, this is the first time it will focus on specific needs. When Mr. Doss approached administrators, social workers, and parents about areas in need of philanthropic resources, mental health problems quickly rose to the surface.

At the Bridgehampton School, the $20,000 donation will fund its positive behavior intervention supports program for students in grades 1 to 12. The program uses rewards for positive social conduct.

The $26,000 donation to East Hampton Middle School will fund a new initiative called “WhyTry.” Run by a Utah-based company, the program focuses on improving resilience no matter what an individual may have to overcome. Last spring, due to widespread budget cuts, the East Hampton School Board decided not to fund it.

“Because of their generous donation, this coming November, the entire middle school faculty and the sixth grade class will be trained in strategies and tactics to help kids deal with difficulties in life, while also learning to de-escalate challenging situations and developing healthy resilience,” said Charles Soriano, the principal of the East Hampton Middle School. “We’re so thrilled to be able to offer this program to our students this year.”

At open houses and back-to-school nights last month and this, students and their families from the Bridgehampton School all the way to Montauk have been receiving a free Food Book created by the Edible School Garden Group and published with the help of Edible East End magazine.

The book is packed with healthy dinner, dessert, and smoothie recipes, gardening tips, and information on things like healthy grains and how to prepare them so that children will like them.

The product of a year-and-a-half-long effort, the publication is meant to demystify cooking, nutrition, and what you should eat and why, said JudiAnn ?Carmack-Fayyaz, a Bridgehampton high school teacher and the founder of the Edible School Garden Group on the East End. It’s more than just a cookbook, she said, because it’s not meant to just sit on a coffee table or a shelf.

Through the Edible School Yard program in which students tend to gardens on their school grounds, kids started taking more of an interest in what they were eating, said Ms. Carmack-Fayyaz. At home though, many were still eating foods that their parents were raised on, including quite a bit of processed and fast food. The Edible Garden group realized that for the project to be a success they had to reach beyond the classroom and educate parents, guardians, and other caregivers about healthy eating.

They began by soliciting recipes from students and families. Soon local chefs, many of whom are a part of the school garden group, got involved too, and a book was born. The group started a Kickstarter campaign two days before Hurricane Sandy hit to raise money for printing costs. After the storm wreaked such havoc, they were sure the fund-drive would take a dive. But there was plenty of interest in healthy eating, and with the help of Brian Halweil of Edible East End, $25,000 was raised for the initial printing of 10,000 copies, which are being distributed to 25 schools on the East End.

In addition to recipes, there are tips for sourcing fresh food, measurement tables, a list of pasta replacements, and a section on fish and meats. The Food Book addresses ways to avoid obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and other diet-related ailments, information that can be helpful to people of all ages.

While it is being given out for free in schools, it will be offered at local farm stands and stores for a suggested donation of $10. Once enough money is raised, the group hopes to also print a version of it in Spanish. It can be purchased online at edibleschoolgarden. org.

The East Hampton Library’s children’s addition, which opened in June, has paid immediate dividends in the form of a marked increase in participation in its children’s summer reading program.

The new children’s reading room is a large, bright, open space equipped with new computers, tablets, and other learning technology. The approximately 4,000-square-foot space also allowed for 10,000 additional books. “We realized that we did not have enough children’s books as compared to other libraries on the East End,” said Dennis Fabiszak, the library’s director. “We felt we didn’t have enough selection for them.” Since the June 21 opening, he said, 5,000 books have been added to the collection.

The summer program encourages reading through incentives including prizes for signing up and for fulfilling a commitment to read a specified number of books, depending on age group. After completing their commitment, participants could continue reading to qualify for raffle tickets for additional prizes, including Lego and science kits.

Library officials, said Alexandra Giambruno, head of the children’s services department, were surprised and delighted at the level of interest. “People would come up to the desk and say, ‘Can we sign up for the summer reading program?’ In the past, that wasn’t the case. We always had to suggest that they do that,” she said.

This year, 693 children participated in the summer reading program, up from 480 in 2013. Of this year’s total, just 50 opted to chart their progress online, with more than 90 percent choosing to keep a pen-and-paper record. “You’d see them coming in with their reading record,” said Lisa Houston, who heads the library’s young adult services. “They were so excited to show me how many books they read. The actual physical aspect was important, and the physical interaction with us. We made a big deal of it, because it is.”

“They wanted to interact with the librarians,” Mr. Fabiszak agreed. “They wanted to feel like they were working with the people in the space, not just an anonymous thing they did online from home. It gave them a reason to come back, and to tell their parents and grandparents that they wanted to come back here. And that’s great.”

The final tally impressed the library’s officials, with 10,690 books read by summer reading club members. The children’s accomplishment, Mr. Fabiszak said, demonstrates a need that was met by the children’s addition. “Our summer reading club proved that having more books on the shelf is really what the kids in our community wanted and needed,” he said. “It’s great to have that immediate response.”

Update Monday, 11:02 a.m.: According to Kerri S. Stevens, the East Hampton district clerk, Monday's board meeting to interview candidates has been cancelled. No further information was available.

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Three East Hampton residents are vying for an open seat on the East Hampton School Board.

According to Kerri Stevens, the district clerk, Charla Bikman, Stephen Grossman, and Deme Minskoff submitted their paperwork earlier this week. The deadline was Wednesday.

On Friday afternoon, the district announced that the board would meet on Monday, beginning at 1 p.m., and go into a closed, or executive, session to conduct interviews. The public is barred from attending such sessions.

The seat has been vacant on the seven-member board since Patricia Hope, formerly its president, submitted a letter of resignation in early July. Since her surprise departure, the board has weighed whether to hold a special election, keep the seat vacant, or appoint someone.

At a meeting in early September, the board decided to appoint someone, also expressing that it had an interest in candidates who possessed a "financial background, including accounting, municipal finance, and budgeting."

In order to qualify, potential board members must be registered voters, East Hampton residents for at least one year prior to appointment, and cannot be current district employees.

The board hopes to announce its choice by Nov. 1. The new member would serve until late June, though the open seat is up for grabs during May's annual vote. Each elected term is three years in duration.

Creature Camouflage

On Sunday at 10 a.m. at the South Fork Natural History Museum in Bridgehampton, Melanie Meade will lead a program for 3 to 6-year-olds on how animals camouflage themselves in nature. Kids will play an outdoor game and then do a craft inside. Advance sign-up has been requested.

Rocket Day

Across the street at the Children’s Museum of the East End, Sunday will be Rocket Day. At this free event, kids of all ages can make and launch their own rockets behind the museum from 10 a.m. to noon. In case of rain, the fun will be postponed until Monday.

Sketching Captains Row

Kids who love to sketch may want to join in a walk, talk, and sketching tour of historic Sag Harbor on Saturday at 10 a.m. Janet Sygar, an architectural educator with the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities, will explore the elegant doorways of the village’s Captains Row with kids 8 to 14, with stops along the way to sketch. Participants will learn what the doors say about the “growing importance and affluence of Sag Harbor’s whaling industry,” according to a release.

The meeting place is the Sag Harbor Custom House on the corner of Main and Garden Streets. The cost is $10, and reservations can be made at 725-3229.

Animal Invasion

Creatures from the Quogue Wildlife Refuge will pay a visit to the Amagansett Library on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Kids can expect to meet a snake, a turtle, a chinchilla, and a bird of prey, among other animals.

Children in first through third grade can make their own pair of wings during a costume workshop at the library on Sunday at 2 p.m. At the same time the following Sunday, participants can make capes. The programs are free and materials will be provided, but advance registration has been requested.

Teen Book Club

A young teen book club is in formation at the East Hampton Library. Kids in sixth through eighth grade who love to read have been invited to stop in at the library on Wednesday from 3:45 to 4:45 p.m. with their favorite summer novel or a new one they’d like to read.

Citing concerns about privacy, security, and potential distraction, the East Hampton School District has withdrawn cooperation in a planned series of articles in The East Hampton Star that would have profiled kindergarten students at the John M. Marshall Elementary School over the course of the school year.

The series was intended to illustrate East Hampton’s changing demographics through an examination of students in a single kindergarten class and their families. It had been approved last spring by Richard Burns, the district superintendent, and Beth Doyle, the school’s principal, and was to be written by Amanda M. Fairbanks. Ms. Fairbanks had also addressed parents in Kristen Tulp’s class at an open house in September and secured the permission of those whose children would be profiled prior to the Oct. 2 publication of what was to be the first article in the series. However, a member of the school board objected to the article in the The Star and complained to Ms. Doyle.

J.P. Foster, president of the board, said on Tuesday that the contretemps resulted from “a lack of communication” and cited “a lot of legal implications we wanted to avoid,” including students’ privacy and confidentiality of information. “It’s inappropriate to do it in a classroom,” he said of Ms. Fairbanks’s reporting. “It’s disruptive and not the best practice.”

At the board’s Oct. 7 meeting, Mr. Burns apologized to board members. While he voiced appreciation for the article, “our heightened world of security” necessitated a change of course, he said. “What concerns me, and I know the board, are security and safety of our students. . . . That was something that I should have been more on top of.”

Mr. Burns referred to unspecified alternatives to the previously agreed-upon arrangement. He did not return a call seeking comment. The Star will examine its options with the hope of continuing the series in some form.

Jack-o-Lantern Time

And suddenly it’s pumpkin-carving time again. Carve them too soon and they’re rotten by Halloween. Wait too long and what’s the point? On Wednesday, the East Hampton Library will provide all the materials for a carving session for kids 4 and older from 4 to 5 p.m. That includes stencils and a “safety carving kit,” not to mention battery-operated tea lights to make it glow.

A Horticultural Alliance of the Hamptons member will stop by the library next Thursday from 4 to 5 p.m. to lead kindergartners through third graders in planting amaryllis bulbs. Advance registration is a must for both programs.

Birds of a Feather

How do birds stay warm in winter? How do they find food? Lindsey Rohrbach of the South Fork Natural History Museum in Bridgehampton will answer those questions for kids 3 to 5 on Sunday at 10 a.m. at the Morton National Wildlife Refuge in Noyac. Advance sign-up has been requested.

Adventureland and More!

There’s lots of fun on this week’s schedule for the Hampton Library in Bridgehampton, including a bus trip to the Adventureland amusement park in Farmingdale on Saturday for kids 13 and older.

A bus will leave the library at 11 a.m. and return at 9:30 p.m. The cost for the trip, including the bus and all rides, is $20. Parents should send extra money with their kids for lunch, arcade games, and snacks. Advance registration and a signed permission slip are required.

Kids 13 and older can drop by the library to make scary box heads from Saturday through Oct. 25. On Sunday, a story time for kids 4 and older will include tea and treats, and on Monday there will be a “jam session” for young kids at 11 a.m. Those 7 and older can make glow-in-the-dark duct tape bags on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m., and all ages have been invited to create kaleidoscopes on Friday, Oct. 24, at 4:30 p.m.

For a Blustery Day

Among the other activities for kids this week is a blustery day story and craft time at the Amagansett Library on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Sunday brings a cape-making workshop for first through third graders at 2 p.m. Kids might save those capes to wear on Friday, Oct. 24, at a family Halloween bash at the Children’s Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton. The fun runs from 4 to 6 p.m. More details next week.

The Montauk Teachers Association issued a letter to the school board on Tuesday asking that the district take a tougher stance on its attendance policy. Students who take extended vacations often fall behind and struggle to keep up with their classmates, said Laura Schilling, a special education teacher.

After the meeting, teachers said that the stakes are higher now, since the state has imposed standardized testing, known as the Common Core, which the Montauk teachers have embraced, unlike many others statewide.

In Montauk, parents who work through summer vacation often take their children out of school for long periods before and after the February or spring breaks, sometimes for months at a time. It is when these vacations are prolonged that the students find it harder to catch up with schoolwork, Ms. Schilling said.

At present, a student who misses 20 days of school is taken off the enrollment rolls, said Jack Perna, the district superintendent.

Ms. Schilling said the teachers association considered the change after many months of research. She said the teachers have recognized a pattern with students who go away for extended periods. “It has illuminated the struggles the students have on state tests,” she said.

Teachers said that though some students are tutored during long breaks, the tutors are often not certified instructors and unaware of newer teaching methods.

Jason Biondo, a school board member, asked what constitutes a long period of time and was told it could be months or six to eight weeks.

Along with the teachers’ letter, the board also received from Ms. Schilling copies of other schools’ attendance policies to review. The board tabled its discussion until its next meeting, on Oct. 28.

A group of eighth-grade parents has asked about holding the June graduation ceremony outdoors this year, the board learned. Mr. Perna said a parent had asked him to bring the notion before the school board. Mr. Biondo said he was part of that group and has a child graduating in June.

Traditionally, the eighth-grade graduation ceremony takes place in the school gym on one of the hottest days of the year. “It would just look nice out on the field,” said Mr. Biondo, who added that one parent came up with the idea and it “snowballed” from there.

Board members said that it wasn’t that easy to just up and move the ceremony. Noting the acoustics of being indoors versus outside, they said the band and chorus would have to be part of the decision. Also, the cost of a tent for the ceremony could be upward of $10,000, and a tent would be mandatory for an outdoor event, the board said.

Moreover, members said the school must take into consideration hauling chairs down a steep hill to the ball field for the ceremony, as well as handicapped access and parking on narrow Second House Road, which is a secondary and level entrance to the school field.

Parents are willing to hold fund-raisers to pay for the tent and other expenses, Mr. Biondo said. “This is not a lazy group of parents. They’ll do what they have to do.”