Laura Perez, an East Hampton High School senior scholar-athlete who has applied for early admission to Yale University, recently received a $1,000 grant to underwrite volunteer work she’s doing at the Retreat from the Women’s Fund of Long Island.

    One of two students on Long Island to receive the Shapiro-McCormick Young Woman Leader Award, she said in her acceptance speech, given before a gathering of 700, that she had been “blessed to have always been supported and encouraged by my parents to go after my goals. . . . I believe everyone should be given a voice, regardless of one’s background. As Condoleeza Rice once said, ‘It doesn’t matter where you came from but where you are going.’ ”

    Through volunteering at the Retreat — “a safe haven where women are given a voice” —  she had learned, she said, how greatly domestic violence could alter a life.

    “Many of these women, often young girls, never had the courage to stand up for themselves until it was too late. That is why I feel it is so important to get involved and aim to be a part of the change. . . . To me, standing and watching from the sidelines is the same thing as doing nothing at all.”

    Aside from captaining the varsity field hockey team, Laura, who has logged over 150 hours of community service, is a member of the National Honor Society, the Key Club (which works with Kiwanis), the French Club, the Century Club, and the Retreat’s teen leadership program.

    She has interned with Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., has studied governmental procedures at the Harvard Model Congress, and was chosen by the high school’s faculty and the American Legion chapter here to attend a weeklong Empire Girls State conference this year which stressed “the importance of women’s participation in government and in leading an active community life.”

All Aboard!

    Kids of all ages can hop aboard “The Polar Express” tonight at the East Hampton Library — departure time, 5 p.m. Children have been invited to arrive at the library in pajamas to watch the animated movie, which stars Tom Hanks. Refreshments will be served and each child will receive a small gift.

    On Saturday from 11 a.m. to noon, teens can create festive beaded earrings for themselves or to give as a gift during a workshop with Jackie Dunn, a jewelry designer.

    From 1:30 to 2:15 p.m. that day, kids 3 and older with an adult can listen to a sweet story, then make a batch of oatmeal-chocolate-chip cookie batter to pop in the oven at home.

    Young gift givers 9 and older could cross someone off their list on Monday, when the library offers a workshop on making pumpkin spice hand and body sugar scrub. Kids will also have the chance to decorate a jar for the body scrub during the program, which runs from 4 to 5 p.m.

    Teens interested in astrology may want to mark their calendars, lunar and otherwise, for Tuesday and next Thursday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., when the library offers a two-part workshop on creating astrological mandalas. The workshop will introduce the 12 houses in astrology. There will be materials and poetry to inspire the creative process.

    Reservations are requested for all programs.

Lion and Mouse at the Goat

    The Crabgrass Puppet Theatre will take children on a puppet-led journey around the globe to find stories about the weak overcoming the strong and making their mark, on Saturday at 11 and 3 p.m. at the Goat on a Boat Puppet Theatre in Sag Harbor.

    “The Lion and the Mouse” includes tales that hail from Africa, Asia, and Europe, designed to delight children of all sizes. Tickets cost $10, $9 for members and grandparents, and $5 for children under 3. The theater is on East Union Street.

High School Playwrights Festival

    The Young American Writers Project will present its annual High School Playwrights Festival on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Stony Brook Southampton’s Avram Theater.

    Featuring six short plays written and performed by high school students from Bridgehampton, Pierson, Southampton, Eastport-South Manor, and Westhampton Beach schools and staged by professional directors, the festival is a collaboration between the student participants and professionals affiliated with Stony Brook Southampton’s M.F.A. program in creative writing and literature.

    The plays grew out of two-month playwriting residencies at each of the high schools this fall. The program’s executive director is Emma Walton Hamilton, the children’s book author, editor, and arts educator who is director of the Southampton Children’s Literature Conference and a founder and former artistic director of the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor. The program director is Will Chandler, an American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Nicholl Fellowship screenwriter, who also served as education director and a teaching artist for Bay Street Theatre.

    Tickets for the festival are free and can be reserved by e-mailing [email protected].

    Two ballet troupes will present Tchaikovsky’s holiday classic “The Nutcracker” this weekend.

    The Hampton Ballet Theatre School’s will take the production to Guild Hall in East Hampton, while the Conservatory of Ballet and Danse Arts will perform at the Southampton High School.

    Both schools are based in Bridgehampton, with many young dancers from points east of there. This year, two new principal dancers will debut as the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Danse Arts production. Julia Talasko of East Hampton and Cornelia O’Connor of Southampton will take turns in the leading role, partnering with Leonel Linares, a professional dancer from New York.

    The Danse Arts Nutcracker is choreographed by Betteanne Terrell and Megan Cancellieri. Show times will be tomorrow at 7 p.m., Saturday at 5 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Children will be invited onstage following each performance for photographs with the dancers, and on Sunday at 1 p.m. there will be a visit from Santa Claus before the 2 p.m. show.

    Tickets cost $15 for adults and $10 for children under 16 and those over 60. They can be purchased online at dansearts.com or by e-mail: [email protected]. Children under 2 will be admitted for free.

    The Hampton Ballet Theatre School’s production is choreographed by Sara Jo Strickland, the theater’s director, and includes costumes designed and sewn by Yuka Silvera, with lighting design by Sebastian Paczynski. Guest artists will dance the Sugar Plum Fairy’s and the Cavalier’s Grand Pas de Deux.

    The Guild Hall performances will be tonight at 7 p.m., Saturday at 1 and 7 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m.

    Tickets cost $20 in advance for adults, $15 for children under 12. They can be purchased online at hamptonballettheaterschool.com or at 888-933-4287.

   An energy performance audit, and implementation of recommended renewable and efficient energy systems, would greatly benefit the district, representatives of a Patchogue-based architectural firm told the Amagansett School Board at its meeting on Tuesday.

    Fred Seeba and Jim Weydig of Burton, Behrendt, and Smith delivered an early-morning presentation that stressed both the financial and educational advantages of such an audit and resulting action. A comprehensive energy system conversion would pay for itself within 18 years, they said.

    By implementing efficient energy strategies — which could involve lighting and lighting controls, oil burner replacement and burner control system upgrades, solar panels, wind generation, roof insulation or replacement, wireless clocks, and computer controllers — the district would be investing money normally paid to the Long Island Power Authority and National Grid into the school, Mr. Seeba said.

    A preliminary audit, should the district choose to hire the firm, would look at the school’s energy expenses and provide recommendations. It would then prepare a request for proposals tailored to the district’s needs.

    “It’s a nice vehicle to make buildings more efficient and not burden taxpayers,” Mr. Seeba said. The firm’s fees are typically 3 to 4 percent of a project’s cost, he added, and such a project could be completed in the summer of 2014.

    Another major benefit, Mr. Seeba said, would be as a teaching tool. “That’s the way a lot of schools look at it,” he said.

    Eleanor Tritt, the district superintendent, agreed that such an effort could be a kind of science project for students.

    John Hossenlopp, the board’s president, advised Mr. Seeba and Mr. Weydig that the board would consult with and possibly visit a district that has implemented the suggested actions.

    The board also considered the makeup of school days lost to Hurricane Sandy. The school was closed from Oct. 29, the day the storm struck the South Fork, through Nov. 2. In order to meet the 184-day schedule as stipulated in the Amagansett Teachers Association contract, the board approved a resolution stating that the school will be open Tuesday through Thursday during the previously scheduled spring recess. Should snow days occur, the Monday and Friday would also be school days, as necessary.

    It’s Back! “The Magic Garden”

    WPIX’s “The Magic Garden,” one of the country’s most successful locally produced children’s television shows from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s, will be recreated by the original stars at the Vail-Leavitt Music Hall in Riverhead on Saturday at 2 p.m.

    As they did back in the day, Carole Demas and Paula Janis will stage the show in a colorful garden setting, where they will share stories, songs, games, and lessons. This event will be presented jointly by the East Hampton Library and seven other local libraries. Organizers have requested advance registration as seating is limited.

Jump Into Fall

    The Child Development Center of the Hamptons, a charter school, will celebrate the changing seasons on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with pumpkin decorating, face painting, bouncy castles, and games. Toys, books, and baked goods will be for sale. The free event will be held at the school, which is at 110 Stephen Hand’s Path in East Hampton. The rain date is Sunday.

Family Fun

    The annual Halloween Family Fun Day will return to American Legion Post #419 in Amagansett on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Pony rides, pumpkin painting, a scavenger hunt, food, and fun for all are in store. The hall is at the corner of Montauk Highway and Abraham’s Path.

    In response to the suicide of David Hernandez, a 16-year-old junior at East Hampton High School, David Kilmnick, chief executive officer of Long Island Gay and Lesbian Youth, has organized a community forum to take place at the school on Tuesday.

    Participants in the 6 p.m. event will discuss the possibility of establishing a G.L.B.T. community center on the East End.

“We will never know David’s true sexual orientation as he is no longer with us,” Mr. Kilmnick said in a letter. “What we do know, however, is that David, like all other teens on the East End, did not have a G.L.B.T. center to go to for support and community like those in western and central parts of Suffolk County and those in Nassau County.”

    The school district will also sponsor a program on cyber-bullying within the next month, a suicide prevention program in January, and Challenge Days next spring. The Gay-Straight Alliance is at the school every Thursday.    

    David H. Hernandez, the 16-year old East Hampton High School student who took his own life on Sept. 29, had attempted suicide twice before, with one attempt coming just 24 hours earlier, according to his mother, Carmita Barros, who met with the school’s principal, Adam S. Fine, on Monday.

    Ms. Barros, accompanied by a friend, Blanca Stella Buitrago, presented Mr. Fine with 115 signatures from Latino parents demanding protection for their children and action against those responsible for bullying the boy, which, they said, led to his death. According to Ms. Barros, the school ignored what was happening because David was Latino.

    The women presented Mr. Fine with a letter in both English and Spanish that had been written for Ms. Barros by a Latino employee of the school, who did not want her name revealed, fearing for her job. Another Latino employee interviewed for this article echoed that fear, saying that she would be fired if she were identified.

    The letter singles out six Latino students as the transgressors, and also questions the actions of a bilingual school counselor. While other students looked on, it says, “David was often pushed on purpose, made inappropriate remarks to and verbally harassed.”

    Ms. Barros also demanded copies of all documents and notes regarding her son. Under the state’s recently passed Dignity for all Students Act, “Schools will be responsible for collecting and reporting data regarding material incidents of discrimination and harassment.”

    On Tuesday, Ms. Barros returned to the school, this time with her sister, to pick up the records. A receptionist handed her an envelope. There was nothing in it about bullying, she told The Star.

    “I asked them, ‘Why don’t you have any records of my son’s bullying?’ They said, ‘That’s all we have,’ ” she said yesterday.

    She asked the receptionist why there was no record of two conversations she had had in September with the bilingual counselor about David. Both conversations, Ms. Barros said yesterday, were extensive. The receptionist did not know the answer, and the counselor was not available to answer the question.

    The East Hampton Town Police Department, which is looking into David’s death, has a copy of the letter presented Monday to the school, as well as a letter from Dr. Eric J. Bartky, the boy’s psychiatrist, whom he saw once a week. Dr. Bartky began seeing the teenager in May, shortly after his first suicide attempt. He wrote that “David described to me that he was being bullied in school on a regular basis by some male students who were making fun of his sexuality.”

    The boy’s mother said he had been hospitalized for psychiatric treatment after the May attempt and that the school was aware of it.

    The doctor’s letter continues, “David suffered with this again upon his return to school in September and he became progressively more depressed. David was an intelligent, quiet, very hurt, and confused adolescent who desperately wanted to be accepted by his peers. [He] was not able to find this in East Hampton.”

    It is not clear how much communication Dr. Bartky had with the school. A call to his office on Tuesday was not returned by press time.

    Ms. Barros also questioned the actions of the school administration, both immediately before and after the death of her son. On the day before he died, she said, she received a call from the bilingual counselor telling her that David was wearing a scarf in school, beneath which were visible red marks on his throat.

    “She said to talk to David, why he has these marks on his neck.”

    She confronted him that night. “I looked at the marks on his neck,” she said, as Ms. Buitrago translated. “I asked him what happened. He said, ‘Nothing, Mom, nothing.’ ” 

    “David,” she said, “You want to be an airplane pilot. Don’t do this to yourself.”    At that moment, she said, she decided she would take him out of the school. Twenty-four hours later, he was dead.

    At 9:33 a.m. on Oct. 1, District Superintendent Richard Burns attempted to call Ms. Barros. He left a voicemail message. “Hi, Senora Barros, Rich Burns calling from the East Hampton School district, I’m the superintendent here, I’m reaching out to you to express my extreme sorrow over this particular case. Our hearts go out to his family. If you’d give me a call, I’d appreciate it. I’d like to know if there is any way we could help.”

    He then put the bilingual counselor on to leave the same message in Spanish.

    Unfortunately, Mr. Burns had dialed a wrong number. His message of condolence was, in fact, left on the voicemail of Alberto Aguero, a cab driver in East Hampton. Mr. Aguero had never met Ms. Barros, but word of her son’s death had spread through the Latino community that weekend and he understood the importance of the message. He took it upon himself to search out Ms. Barros and delivered the message to her in person later that day.

    Until yesteray, the school administration did not address the central allegation made by Ms. Barros and other Latinos: that the system ignores bullying amongst Latino students, usually recent immigrants who speak little or no English and are unfamiliar with the culture. Yesterday, Mr. Burns released a statement:

    “The school community is deeply upset by the tragedy of David’s death, and our hearts and prayers are with his family and friends.”

    “It is without question that the issue of bullying behaviors is a very real one in our society. Our school district maintains a progressive, affirming culture of respect and acceptance through student-centered programs and services for families. These include everything from our Gay-Straight Alliance clubs to character education, anti-bias programs, cyber-bullying awareness for student and parents, suicide prevention workshops, and numerous other efforts. We consider our district to be in the vanguard with regard to these efforts, and will continue our commitment to this part of the instructional program.”

    “But it’s not just about programs and awareness. The caring professionals of our small school district are responsive to the needs of every student who walks through our doors. Numerous positive interventions are exercised on behalf of individual students on a daily basis. To the best of its abilities, the district attempts to meet the needs of all students in a direct and personal manner.”

    Ms. Buitrago said Monday’s meeting with Mr. Fine could be an important first step for Latino parents. She said Mr. Fine had told her that “every student is my responsibility.”

    Ms. Barros has applied for a temporary visa to bring her son’s body back to Ecuador for burial, as he requested in a farewell note. On the Tuesday after his death the school held a bake sale, which brought in over $4,000, enough to pay for his funeral service.

    “We as a community failed this kid,” George Aman, the head of East Hampton’s board of education said yesterday. Mr. Aman indicated that the teen-ager’s suicide raises complex questions for the entire community. “We have to do a better job.”

    The use of tablets and electronic textbooks is a potentially valuable development, but educators and administrators must proceed with caution, said Eleanor Tritt, the superintendent of the Amagansett School District, at a meeting of its school board Tuesday night.

    Ms. Tritt cited articles on the topic, such as one on the Web site mashable.com, which surveys what it referred to as a concerted effort by the federal government, book publishers, and the technology industry to “push tablets into public schools.” She also mentioned an article in Education Week magazine that details the considerable influence of the textbook publisher Pearson, which is active in digital education.

    In noting that teachers use Apple iPads in Amagansett classrooms, the superintendent said, “There needs to be more study on what applications are most efficient and effective, and we must be careful about making those judgments, rather than rely on the publishers’ self-interest.” She also told the board that “many applications can be replicated by hands-on material, but others capture students’ attention and focus.”

    School administrators are evaluating the use of tablets and moving cautiously in their wider adoption, Ms. Tritt said, again citing concern that the federal government is pushing a broad transition from paper to tablets. Pearson has recently branched into teacher-preparation products, she reported, saying, “We feel the for-profit companies have undue influence.” 

    The board also discussed the state’s Dignity for All Students Act. The act “seeks to provide the state’s public elementary and secondary school students with a safe and supportive environment free from discrimination, intimidation, taunting, harassment, and bullying on school property, a school bus and/or at a school function,” according to the New York Education Department. The superintendent and members of the board voiced concern about what they said was the broad definition of bullying, which may also include “cyber bullying.” A firmer understanding of the behavior that constitutes bullying, and a school’s responsibilities and procedures in regard to it, are needed, board members said.

    The board also approved the use of the school gymnasium by the East Hampton Town Recreation Department for youth basketball on Saturdays. The program will begin on Dec. 1 and end on or before March 2. Approval was made contingent on Amagansett students’ eligibility and participation.

The Hunt is On

    Tomorrow at 3:30 p.m., children in grades K through 6 have been invited to a monster hunt at the Amagansett Library. The children’s search is sure to take them all through the shelves and many Dewey-decimal destinations.

    Starting on Saturday, those same grades can attend a series of art workshops sponsored by the Parrish Art Museum. In the 11 a.m. workshops, which continue on Nov. 10 and Nov. 17, children can create art in mixed media inspired by the museum’s permanent collection, including works by William Merritt Chase, Fairfield Porter, and Roy Lichtenstein. A fourth session will be held on Dec. 1 at the Parrish’s new home at 279 Montauk Highway in Water Mill. That visit will include a tour of the galleries and time to create a work of art in the museum’s Open Studio.

    The workshops are free, but space is limited and advance registration is required.

    Next Thursday, all have been invited to meet in the field behind the library at 7 p.m. for stargazing. Joe Malave, a local teacher and guest astronomer, will point out constellations, binary stars, and planetary nebular. The rain date is Nov. 15.

Family Fiesta

    A family fiesta will be held at Guild Hall on Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m., called “Cuentos: Tales From the Latino World,” featuring David Gonzalez, a storyteller, from 3 to 4 p.m. and crafts throughout the afternoon. Refreshments will be served.

Pumpkin Decorating

    Kids ages 8 to 12 will have the opportunity to decorate pumpkins on Saturday from 2 to 3 p.m. at the Hampton Library in Bridgehampton. Organizers say the event is not appropriate for children with peanut allergies.

    Through Sunday in the young adult department, seventh graders and up will be making Thai string dolls during library hours.

Stories About Turtles

    Crystal Possehl and her puppet, Lodo the River Otter, will tell stories about turtles to kids ages 3 to 5, Saturday at 10 a.m. at the South Fork Natural History Museum on the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike in Bridgehampton. The museum has requested registration in advance.

    Meeting on Election Night, the East Hampton School Board considered how to make up for the five days the school was closed because of Superstorm Sandy. Rather than hold classes on holidays, the board seemed more in favor of making school days longer.

    District Superintendent Richard Burns said legislation might be proposed in Albany lowering the required minimum 180 days of school due to the storm.

    Mr. Burns thanked the grounds crew, maintenance, custodians, and other school employees who “were terrific during and after Sandy.” When he visited the school immediately after the storm, he said, “I could barely tell a storm came through.”

    The high school will continue to offer hot showers to the community from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. daily as needed, the superintendent said.

    Jackie Lowey, a board member, praised Mr. Burns himself for his response to Sandy. “He was here day and night,” she said.    

    Earlier in the meeting, Ms. Lowey expressed disgust that the district has a budget item to pay for seventh and eighth grade students to attend the Hamptons International Film Festival. She said the $3,580 charge “rubs me the wrong way. I’m surprised that a nonprofit is charging us for a community event.”

    Noting that students miss classes to attend the festival, she said that “we should take a close look at this in the next budget.”

    Toward the end of the meeting, Ms. Lowey suggested that in subsequent years the board not meet on Election Night.