Tag: virtual visits

Roberts ES students always have such good questions!

Today was the 6th time media specialist extraordinaire Tiffanie Lifsey invited me to speak with her fifth grade students in Suwanee Georgia!

There were a lot of budding writers in the audience and many questions focused on that. For example, what does my editing process look like before I send a manuscript to the publisher? How many times in all does a manuscript for a novel go through editing? I think they were shocked by the answer.

There were also questions about the real people behind various characters, but this was the first time I was asked about how I researched for the character of Officer Schmidt, who made appearances in both Making Bombs and The War Below.

This is one of the classes at Roberts ES. I think there were 6 in all.
I love this shot with me and Tiffanie!

Riverside Elementary and why we read

Thank you, Kristin and Beth for the opportunity to speak with 5th grade Riverside Elementary students last Friday. This new crop of 5th grade students were as inquisitive, enthusiastic and respectful as always. I loved the opportunity to talk about how I wrote Making Bombs for Hitler and why I write on such serious topics for a young audience.

Last week’s webinar

It was such an honour to be a reading series presenter for the Bohdan Khmelnytskyi National University of Cherkasy last Thursday. The session was via Zoom and made available to the Global Coalition of Ukrainian Studies.

The questions were perceptive and wide-ranging. I was particularly heartened by this feedback from students Bohdan Khmelnytskyi National University of Cherkasy.

Online presentation, Dec 4th

Thank you, Centre for Ukrainian Studies, University of Manitoba, for this invitation to speak about Standoff, book #2 of my Kidnapped from Ukraine trilogy. Looking forward to lots of questions.

CUCS Lecture Series

How and why Marsha Skrypuch wrote the “Kidnapped from Ukraine” trilogy

Date and Time: Thursday, December 4, 2025, 12 PM CST

Location: Online via Zoom

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://umanitoba.zoom.us/meeting/register/XUP5uT77ShygI7Qeee7h2g

Students say thank you

It was such a pleasure to speak with 7th grade students at JL Simpson Middle School this May. This is the second year in a row that I’ve virtually visited with all 11 classes. Students are well-prepared and avid readers and I really admire their teachers because they know how to combo a whole lot of learning for maximum effect. I got this package in the mail — thank you notes from the kids, and also from Jennifer, media specialist extraordinaire. But these aren’t just any thank-you notes. Students created thank you notes for me to use as thank you notes! The outside of each note card has student-created art based on a scene from one of my books. On the back of the cards is the student’s name and the name of the book that inspired their art. So a learning opportunity that combines art, literature, history, communications and courtesy! Wow!

Conversing with 7th grade students of JL Simpson MS

Met JL Simpson MS’s fantastic 7th grade students (11 classes!) and their educators via google meets this morning and yesterday morning. Most were familiar with Winterkill, Enough and Making Bombs for Hitler. I spoke of my own struggles with reading when I was a kid and how failing 4th grade and how that shaped me as a writer. The students’ questions demonstrated a lot of empathy and awareness of world events. Here are some of my fave pics. Thank you, Jennifer Maulfair for organizing!

Ms Maulfair passed on this feedback from the sessions:

“The reason why I am giving the presentation a 5 star review is because when she was explaining all the things that had happened to her I could just imagine how much she went through, and I was really into it.” JL Simpson, 7th Grade student, Leesburg, VA

“It was interesting to hear about Ms. Skrypuch’s early life and all of her challenges as a child. She also did a great job of answering complicated questions in a simple way.” JL Simpson, 7th Grade student, Leesburg, VA

Roberts ES 5th grade students

It was such a pleasure to speak with 5th grade students from Roberts Elementary in Suwanee GA on Good Friday morning. Virtually visiting Roberts has become something of an annual tradition! Here are pics from one of the participating classes. Students asked thoughtful questions and made good connections between my WWII novels and Under Attack: Kidnapped from Ukraine, set during Putin’s current war on Ukraine.