Slain Journalist James Foley Spoke at McAuliffe Charter in 2011

James Foley, 40, a freelance journalist was killed this week by his Islamic State Group captors.

The New Hampshire journalist had been missing since November of 2012, when he was abducted in Syria.

News of Foley’s murder was released in a video via an official Islamic State Group Twitter feed. In the video, Foley is forced to read a letter condemning the U.S. bombing campaign in Iraq, calling it the “final nail” in his coffin, reported PBS.org.

The group warns that if the U.S. does not withdraw from Iraq, Steven Joel Soltoff, another captured journalist, will be executed. At the end of the video, Foley is beheaded by an individual in a black hood.

In June, 2011, Foley spoke to students at the Christa McAuliffe Regional Charter Public School in Framingham.

McAuliffe eighth graders learned about Foley’s first imprisonment in Libya during a “writing for change” project in their English language arts classes.

After learning about the situation in Libya, students wrote letters to politicians, opinion pieces, as well as fictional short stories with a goal of “writing for social change.”

While McAuliffe students were polishing their writing, they learned of Foley’s release and return to New Hampshire.

McAuliffe English teacher, Amy Beckhusen, promptly invited Foley to Skype with her students. He accepted the offer but instead of Skype he came to Framingham to speak personally to the students.

Foley told students about 80 percent of war zone reporting is boring and 19 percent is interesting, and that is capture fell into the other one percent.

Photo: James Foley (right) at the McAuliffe Charter School in 2011.