Terra Vista Middle School students in Mrs. Kris Janeway’s 8th grade GT English, Language Arts and Reading class have been deep in study of the book “Ripper” by Stefan Petrucha. After reading the book the students were asked to work on suspect profiles of some of the characters they read about.
After starting their assignment the students began coming up with questions that Mrs. Janeway couldn’t answer as they really were pointed toward what the author was thinking while writing the piece. Mrs. Janeway decided she would try and track down Mr. Petrucha and submit the questions her students had complied.
“While we were writing, I did the basic disclaimer that the author probably wouldn’t respond so don’t get upset if you don’t get the answers to your questions,” Janeway said to her students.
To all of their surprise Petrucha responded within the hour answering all of the students questions in great detail, but the correspondence didn’t stop there. Janeway and Petrucha exchanged emails for a week and through their discussion he wanted to learn what project her students had done with his book, and a Skype session even transpired from their correspondence.
Today the TVMS 8th grade ELAR class had a Skype session with Mr. Petrucha who answered more of their burning questions and let them in on a few little tidbits from the sequel he hopes will soon be published.
The students and Mrs. Janeway were captivated by Mr. Petrucha’s responses and willingness to take the time to discuss his literary work. This truly was a once in a lifetime kind of experience for these students and one they are sure to remember for years to come.
