Follow Baldwin High's 'Odyssey' All-Nighter on Twitter Friday Night

How many teenagers would stay up all night to read a 3,000-year-old, 400-page poem? At Baldwin High School, the answer might be more than you think.

About 70 freshmen in the high school's Honors English 9 course have signed up to stay awake all night this Friday and read the "Odyssey," an epic Greek poem attributed to the author Homer.

"The event is not mandatory, and there is no extra credit," said Keith Harrison, a teacher of the course. "All students, whether they attend the all-nighter or read the book on their own over the next month, have to take the same quizzes and unit exam."

The event will run from 2:30 p.m. on Friday, April 26, through 8 the next morning in a Baldwin High large-group instruction room. Student teams will tackle reading aloud a chapter or two each from the poem and will post live updates throughout the night on the event's Twitter account, @OdysseyAllNight.

Harrison was researching new strategies for teaching the "Odyssey" when he came across a 10-year-old New York Times story about a New York school that held an all-night "Odyssey" reading event for two dozen kids, he said. He then proposed a similar event at Baldwin, and administrators, students and parent chaperones all agreed.

The event is also an American Cancer Society Relay for Life fundraiser, with students asking relatives and friends to support their participation by making a donation.

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