Bain Middle School celebrates Reading Week with ‘Lit Night’ show

Pam Schiff
Posted 4/16/14

In their celebration of Reading Week, students, teachers and staff of Bain Middle School went all out to show their appreciation and love of books in their inaugural “Lit Night with Jimmy …

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Bain Middle School celebrates Reading Week with ‘Lit Night’ show

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In their celebration of Reading Week, students, teachers and staff of Bain Middle School went all out to show their appreciation and love of books in their inaugural “Lit Night with Jimmy Fallon.”

The first floor of Bain was turned into a center of activity and excitement. There were free books donated by Cranston Family Center via First Books, raffle baskets, treats sold by Midway Cafe, bingo, games and crafts.

But the true interest was in the book characters walking around and interacting with the guests.

Dorothy, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man were looking for the Wizard, while the Wicked Witch of the West and a flying monkey were hunting Dorothy. Alice had fallen through the looking glass and was in search of the White Rabbit. From the ”My Name is America” series book titled “The Journal of Scott Pendleton Collins,” a soldier roamed the halls. There was Grover Underwood from “Percy Jackson,” and Princess Mia Thermopolis from the “Princess Diaries.” Cinderella was there with her evil stepsisters, and Esperanza from “Esperanza Rising.”

The event was the brainchild of Bain librarian Karen Shore and reading teacher Lynne Driscoll.

“We wanted to have a celebration of literature. Everyone has been very excited for this all week,” said Shore.

Eighth-grader Jeff Marchetti acted as Jimmy Fallon and hosted “Lit Night,” along with his own sidekick Higgins played by Sean Sova, who also was dressed as the Scarecrow. Marchetti was also accompanied by Fallon’s band The Roots, comprised of Carlos Coste, Roberto Moya and Joe Scungio, who did double duty as Grover Underwood.

Following Fallon’s style, Marchetti performed a monologue, and did a trademark sketch involving writing “thank you” notes for some obscure and unusual items. 

Fallon’s first guest was local award-winning journalist, Cranston Herald reporter Jen Cowart. 

Cowart was the interview subject for a change of pace, yet she still managed to take notes and snap photos of Marchetti and the audience.

Marchetti ran down a list of all the things Cowart does: Herald reporter, mother of three children and author of two published books. When questioned about how she spends her “spare time,” Cowart listed off the things she does, which included a book club, cooking and blogging.

“So, I do more writing,” Cowart said.

They discussed her favorite child, which turned out to be her dog, Bella.

“She has me wrapped around her little paw,” she said, and actually pulled out a picture of the shih tzu.

Cowart talked about the joys of being a writer and having the flexibility to work wherever she was.

“I can write from the beach in the summer, or when we were in California, I was able to do it from there,” she said.

When asked about her proudest moment as a reporter, there was no hesitation to her response.

“My proudest moment was the day I walked into Cranston’s Charter High School and saw a paragraph from an article I did about their school on a huge, bronze plaque in their lobby. I had no idea they were doing that, and I love knowing that my words will forever be remembered. It’s also a great reminder to me that it’s so important to always put my best work out there. You never know where it will end up, especially in the age of social media that we live in now,” she said.

Marchetti also interviewed such literary greats as the Wicked Witch of the West, Grover Underwood, Princess Mia Thermopolis and Dorothy Gale.

Shore gave a big “thank you” shout out to the Bain teachers and community for donating all the prizes for the raffles, and is already thinking about next year’s event.

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