Dr. Lynn Rupp, associate professor in education at West Virginia Wesleyan College, and her secondary education students assisted in developing a teacher study guide for Judy Miller’s movie “The Captives.” Miller, a secondary education teacher at Roane County High School in Spencer, WV, is the producer of the docudrama based on the historical accounts of the Ingles and Draper families that resided near Horseshoe Bend on the New River in 1755.

The two families were among the first white settlers west of the Allegheny Mountains where Mary Ingles was captured by Shawnee warriors during a raid, and was taken to their village along the Scioto River, then further west to Big Bone Lick in present Boone County, KY. Her time as a prisoner and later as an escapee fleeing from her captors - and finally her arrival at her home is chronicled by Miller in her docudrama.

Dr. Rupp and her class met with Miller to discuss the project. Rupp explained, “The movie will be shown in school systems around the state, but there wasn’t a guide to assist teachers with any other projects related to the movie. My students, for their final project, are preparing a comprehensive study guide for educators that will accompany the movie.”

Pictured are students Margee Godfrey, Copen, WV, Jason Gurney Tiffin, OH, Brad Mills, Elk River, MN, Dr. Lynn Rupp, Joey Book, Clarksburg, WV, Dr. Rob Rupp, political science professor, Lori Coffman, New Milten, WV and Miller. The students and Miller are reviewing the map of Mary Ingles 42 day trip on foot through the wilderness.