MATTAPOISETT — The glitz and glamour of the roaring twenties was on display at Old Rochester Regional High School’s library on March 2 as students and teachers participated in a read-a-thon of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.”

The first page of the book was read aloud by principal Michael Devoll during morning announcements, and students took turns reading pages aloud in the library. There was also a dramatic reading of chapter five in the school’s auditorium.

English teacher Kathleen Brunelle and librarian Allison Barker were inspired by the New Bedford Whaling Museum’s read-a-thon of “Moby Dick” and planned the event to coincide with National Read Across America Day. 

Brunelle said that a lot of elementary schools celebrate and thought, “we should celebrate too, because we’re really trying to promote reading.”

Students could sit in lounge chairs and watch the reading, play 1920s trivia, dress up for a photo booth, learn the Charleston and even eat the lemon tea cakes like those that were served in the book.

The event then moved over to the auditorium for a dramatic reading of chapter 5, the catalyst for the entire story. 

A group of approximately 25 kids watched as Jay Gatsby and Nick Calloway, or senior Baylen Brunelle and senior Luke Couto, bickered about Gatsby’s rendezvous with Daisy Buchanan, portrayed by freshman Kendall Cook. All the while, senior Paul Kippbenberger narrated each character’s movements. 

Couto said that the actors are involved in ORR’s theatre class and drama club, so they were a natural fit for the parts.

Brunelle and Barker chose the American classic because students at ORR have repeatedly said that it’s their favorite out of all the required reading. 

Brunelle included teachers in the reading schedule to encourage the habit of reading in the lives of their students. 

“The more we can try to show students that reading is fun, the better,” said Brunelle.