When Arthurs Middle School teachers John Wukovits and Peter Kopera tell their seventh- and eighth-graders at the Trenton school that dreams can come true, they’re speaking from experience.

Wukovits, a language arts teacher, writer and longtime military history aficionado, is the author of the newly published "Pacific Alamo: The Battle for Wake Island," the realization of his dream of writing a book for a major publisher.

Wukovits’ book was released July 1 by New American Library, a division of Penguin Putnam in New York, and at 2 p.m. Saturday, he will sign copies at Border’s Books and Music at Southland Center in Taylor.

Kopera, a vocal and instrumental music teacher, jazz musician and composer, provided the musical score for an independently produced film set during the Civil War, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge."

Their projects thrust the pair of educators into unique roles over the last couple of years at the school.

"It’s been good to have Peter to talk with about our projects," Wukovits said. "Having many of the same emotions, we’ve been able to bare our souls and lean on each other.

"And, I think it’s neat that two guys in a small school in a small town have followed their dream and can show our students what we’ve done."

At 58, Wukovits is no stranger to the publishing world. He’s been writing for 20 years, with his first published piece about Mark Bacon, after whom Wyandotte’s Bacon Memorial Library is named, appearing in The News-Herald Newspapers in 1983.

"It’s always been a love of mine to write," he said.

Military history, especially that of World War II, also is a passion for the author, and when he began to pursue his dream, he sought the expert advice of no fewer than 43 historians.

"I wrote to them, and some answered me, and some didn’t," Wukovits said.

One who did was the late Thomas Buell, a North Carolina-based historian who took the aspiring author under his wing. Buell, whose mentor had been novelist Herman Wouk, told him he recognized the "fire in his belly" that he had for his subject, Wukovits said.

Wukovits honed his writing skills by writing for such publications as Naval History, The Journal of Military History and WWII. In 1995, he authored a book about Admiral Clifton Sprague, "Devotion to Duty," published by the Naval Institute Press and now required reading for courses at the Air Force Academy and on the "A" list of books to read put out by the master chief petty officer of the Navy.

Wukovits also has penned 35 books for Lucent Books, a division of the Gale Group that targets middle school readers. His writings have been for the company’s American War Library and People in the News series. His most recent contributions are on the Korean War and actor Robin Williams.

"I had been doing this kind of work for many years, and I knew if I wanted to get with the big-timers, I’d need an agent," he said.

Literary agent Jim Hornfisher of Texas, who also represents several other history writers, helped him sell the idea of a book about the battle for Wake Island to Penguin.

The rest is history, as they say. Two years after intensive archival research, interviews with survivors, writing and rewriting, the book has been published, just in time for the teacher to take advantage of his summer break to travel around the country to promote it.

The tour begins tomorrow with a book signing at Borders in Ann Arbor. The publisher also has set up interviews in St. Louis and an appearance on the TV program "Capital Conversations" in Washington, D.C. In the fall, he’s planning to attend a reunion of the Marines and civilian workers who fought on Wake Island.

Although the publisher doesn’t like to book appearances at many stores, Wukovits said he was able to convince representatives to arrange an appearance at Notre Dame, Ind., home of his alma mater, the University of Notre Dame.

Wukovits’ fellow teacher, Kopera, said he already can hear a dramatic score for a movie version of his friend’s book.

"It’s been so neat for John and I to have both projects wrapped at the same time," Kopera said.

The film "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" premiered June 21 at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor. It was the first time that Kopera had seen the completed film, based on a story by 19th century author Ambrose Bierce.

"It was a thrill to see the emotional reaction to my music," he said.

He said the score pretty much carries the story in several scenes that have no dialogue, effectively "illuminating" them for the audience.

"At times, the music I wrote wasn’t right," he said about the three-year project. "The music for the opening credits took a year to do, then I had to redo it."

Kopera used his fee from Owl Creek Productions to build a digital studio in his home that includes a keyboard that can reproduce 4,000 sounds.

Budget limitations were strict, the composer said, but he was able to enhance the digital music with the addition of a vocalist, Leslie Boughton of the Kalamazoo band Blue Dahlia, and musicians Colleen Riley of Trenton, a flutist, and Jeremy Kittel of Saline, a three-time fiddle champion.

Kopera said he had become acquainted with the movie’s director and co-producer, Brian Egan of Monroe, through their work on projects at Greenfield Village.

"The producers knew the quality of my music," Kopera said, "and asked me if I would be interested in writing the music for his film."

It was just a year ago that he finally got a copy of the film and began the arduous task of finding the musical tenor of the story.

"It was my job to serve the director’s vision," he said. "There was so little dialogue that the music had to carry the film. That was the big challenge."

Kopera, a teacher for nine years, the last five at Arthurs, brings a wealth of musical expertise to his role as a musical score composer.

He is a classically trained pianist and graduate of the Crane School of Music, State University of New York at Potsdam. He has studied in England and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and is working on a master’s degree at Eastern Michigan University.

He’s performed in orchestras and show bands aboard cruise ships and with his jazz trio and other famed jazz artists.

"When I saw what Brian was doing with this film, I realized that it wasn’t just two guys running around with video cameras," Kopera said. "You have to have blind faith to get it finished.

"Once it is, though, the sense of accomplishment is amazing."

Kopera said he hopes this first project will lead to others. The producers plan to enter the finished product in various film festivals, thus creating valuable exposure for the composer.

And while the 35-year-old is just starting his journey to fulfill his dream, he sees Wukovits, who has been pursuing his for 20 years, finally achieve his.

"You have to be persistent to get your foot in the door," he said.

Wukovits agreed.

"You have to be out there and make things happen — you just never know," he said. "A lot of people don’t make that first step."