(May 1, 2001) — Last month, Stephanie Sajjadieh’s English junior English classes participated in Gatsby Day. On designated days, students brought in presentations relating to the novel “The Great Gatsby,” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. “It’s a nice way to present projects with a 1920’s atmosphere,” said Sajjadieh. Sajjadieh first assigned projects that involve characters and the time period in the novel. All of the project choices relate to the book. Some chose to do dioramas of scenes from the book and others created PowerPoint presentations. Also, this year students shared the fashion styles that were prominent during the 1920’s and even had a live fashion show. There were also those who decided to go through the difficult task of creating animations and writing original songs about the main characters. Junior Albert Chun said that the assignment was “more fun” compared to other class work. “We had a choice to make the work become our own creations,” he said. During the Gatsby days, Sajjadieh encouraged students to dress in formal attire. Sajjadieh’s classroom was decorated with dim Christmas lights. Cookies, cakes and sparkling apple cider were also available. In the beginning of class, Sajjadieh offered a toast with her students. According to Sajjadieh, Gatsby Day “brought the time period of the novel to life” and the formal clothes created “excitement in the air.” Many students enjoyed the formal wear and atmosphere and were also quite impressed by their classmates’ projects. “The projects were really creative,” said Sharon Kim, “And it’s fun because everyone’s dressed up and we have ‘champagne.’” Sajjadieh created Gatsby Day eight years ago and she continues to make it an annual event for her juniors.