by Aidan DeVito
Mr. Santomenna is an English Language Arts teacher at Wall Intermediate School. He works with Mrs. Creighton. He is also a self-published author of the book Caribbean Capers.
Why did you write a book?
My grandmother and I started talking about story ideas one day which lead to a game we played each time we saw each other. We would talk about the continuing story of our characters and what kind of adventures they would have and what lessons they would learn. Eventually my grandmother decided that we should try and make it into a legitimate book, which we eventually did.
Why did you choose to write your book with your grandmother?
My grandmother is one of my favorite people on earth! We always had so much fun together and she had written a few books already when we started talking about our own story. She had so much knowledge about writing and the world that it made writing with her so easy and fun.
Did you read a lot when you were younger?
I've been reading non-stop for as long as I can remember. I would read basically everything I could get my hands on. I really liked the Great Illustrated Classics as a kid which lead me into more and more novels.
What inspired you to choose a career of teaching?
One of my main inspirations for teaching was my Sophomore year teacher who taught us a great deal using Dante Alighieri's novel, The Inferno, which had a serious impact on me. She taught with such passion and dedication that I loved every second in that class that year. It made me consider teaching as a career for the first time and I never looked back.