East Hampton High School was evacuated yesterday morning around 9 a.m. after a threat was discovered written on a bathroom mirror. Students were allowed to return to class about an hour and 45 minutes later after police and school officials searched the school.

“Police and staff at the school have deemed it to be safe,” said Town Police Capt. Chris Anderson. He declined to provide the details of the message, but called it “a very nonspecific threat.”

“At this point, we do not know the length of time that particular threat has been present,” Captain Anderson said. “The building is clear, and the investigation is continuing.”

Parents of all children in the district were notified that the evacuation was in progress via an automated message from the district’s superintendent, Richard Burns, just after 9, and a message was also posted on the district’s website.

Patrol officers worked with the school resource officer and school personnel to conduct a “full sweep” of the school, where they looked for weapons or bombs. Specialized units, like a bomb squad, were not brought in. 

“After a comprehensive search, the high school has now been deemed safe for students to return to their classrooms,” Mr. Burns posted on the district’s website mid-morning yesterday. “The district will always err on the side of safety,” Mr. Burns said in the message.

Students were ushered to the bleachers near the football field, while the search was conducted.

“Mockingbird” Auditions

Aspiring actors ages 8 to 12 have been invited to audition for the Bay Street Theater’s Literature Live! production of “To Kill a Mockingbird” on Monday from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. The theater is looking for children to fill the roles of Scout, a precocious 6-year-old girl, her smart and athletic 12-year-old brother, Jem, who has a tense relationship with his father, Atticus Finch, the play’s lead character, and Dill, the siblings’ playmate who is described as “wise beyond his years.”

Auditions have already been held for the adult roles. This is an Actors Equity production, and all actors will be paid. The play will be staged during the day for some school groups, so actors will miss some school, but almost all rehearsals will be in the after-school hours. The play will be staged at Bay Street from Nov. 5 through 29. Rehearsals are to begin early next week. Joe Minutillo will direct the production.

Cowgirls Theater

Kate Mueth and the Neo-Political Cowgirls are herding up girls 8 to 15 for a Cowgirls Theater Company that will gather at Guild Hall’s John Drew Theater on seven Saturdays and a Sunday starting this week from 10 to 11:30 a.m.

Using journaling and improvisational movement exercises and games, participants will create, design, and direct their own theater pieces that will be performed for family and friends on Nov. 24. The cost is $225 per student, or $200 for members of Guild Hall. Advance registration has been requested by phone or email to [email protected].

Also on Saturday, Guild Hall will offer a sand painting and collage art workshop for kids 5 to 11. Young artists will tour the museum’s Robert Motherwell exhibition, learn about some of his techniques, and then use them to make their own works of art, with autumn as their inspiration. The class runs from 2 to 2:45 p.m. and costs $10, or $8 for members of the museum.

Anti-Bullying Art Contest

Artists in kindergarten through 12th grade, get your supplies out and start working. Joyce Raimondo’s Imagine That! Art Education is seeking submissions for an anti-bully art contest throughout the month of October.

Kids have been challenged to create a work of art that illustrates teamwork, the opposite of bullying. All works should be in color and can include a slogan or saying. There will be prizes for contestants in kindergarten through second grade and third through sixth grade. First-place winners will also see their art published as Imagine That! greeting cards.Finished submissions should be scanned or photographed and emailed to [email protected] or mailed to Imagine That! Art Education, P.O. Box. 419, Amagansett 11930, along with the name and grade of the artist and a parent or teacher’s email address and phone number. Winners will be selected by a team of professional artists and educators and will be announced by Dec. 1.

Dinosaur Story and Craft

Argentinosaurus, Stegosaurus, Tyrannosaurus rex. Kids can spend some time with their favorite extinct creatures on Saturday afternoon at the Amagansett Library as they listen to a dinosaur story and create dinosaur puppets. The program begins at 3:30 p.m.

On Sunday, as children begin to gear up for Halloween, the library will host the first in a series of three costume workshops for first through third graders at 2 p.m., this one focusing on wands. Participants will make wings on Oct. 12 and caps on Oct. 19. All materials will be provided free of charge, but advance registration has been requested.

Beach Memory Jars

Nicole Cummings of the South Fork Natural History Museum in Bridgehampton will lead kids on beach walks on Saturday to gather items for a beach memory jar. A walk for those 3 to 5 is planned for 10 a.m.; kids 6 to 8 will comb the sands at 2 p.m. Kids will learn about what they find and where it came from as they gather their items. The meeting place can be learned by calling the museum. There is a $4 materials fee for the program.

Behold the MakerBot

The Hampton Library in Bridgehampton will show kids how to use its MakerBot 3-D printer during two sessions this week. Kids 12 and up will get an intro to the design software and the printer on Saturday at 2 p.m. Workshops for kids 7 to 12 will be held on Wednesday and again on Nov. 5, both at 4 p.m.

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.”