Bennetts shine bright in higher education
Courtesy photoMichelle Bennett is Maple Valley's chief of police. She recently finished her doctorate degree in education, joining three siblings who also earned doctorate degrees. The entire Bennett family values their education.
MOSES LAKE - Four doctorate degrees, four master's degrees, seven bachelor's degrees and three associate's degrees. Add them up, and the Bennett children have earned 18 degrees.
Moses Lake residents Tom and Mary Ann Bennett expressed pride in the accomplishments of their seven children. Four of the children are Tom's and three are Mary Ann's.
Dave Bennett, 44, has a master's degree in Slavic languages. Robert Bennett, 41, has a doctorate degree in law. Michelle Bennett, 38, has a doctorate degree in education. James Bennett, 37, has a master's degree in percussion performance. Julia Metzker, 37, has a doctorate degree in chemistry. Patrick Moberg, 36, has a doctorate degree in law. Jeremy Moberg, 33, has a bachelor's degree in science.
All the children are employed in successful careers and live all over the world.
Tom Bennett said when he was in grade school, his parents made sure their children spoke in a grammatically correct way. He also remembers the pressure for good grades.
"I brought home a poor grade in English when I was in the eighth grade, and spent the next few weeks working on English after school instead of going outside to play, and as a result of that experience, did not bring any more bad report cards home," Tom recalled.
When he showed aptitude in math and science, his parents said if he worked hard and got to go to college, the school might let him take calculus.
"My thought: 'Wow. That would be nice!'" Tom said.
"Subsequently, between my five brothers and sisters and me, there is one doctorate, five master's degrees, six bachelor's degrees and one associate degree," he said. "Five of us have earned our livings as teachers."
Tom has a doctorate degree in civil engineering and a master's degree in nuclear engineering.
Mary Ann Bennett earned her master's degree in education in curriculum and development, from Eastern Washington University, and her bachelor of arts degree in English at Gonzaga University.
Mary Ann said her biggest interest is traveling the world and learning how other people live, enjoying the food and taking in the beauty. Most of her time was spent in the classroom with elementary school students. She said she enjoyed teaching students and her children about world languages and cultures.
"But my greatest pleasure is in our own children, and I am so proud of them and of their accomplishments," Mary Ann said. "All are giving to their communities and have made interesting lives for themselves. I so enjoy their spouses and families and love watching those eager new eyes of the grandchildren experience the world as they grow."
She said education and talent development has always been a family priority.
To celebrate the family's most recent achievement - daughter Michelle's doctorate degree in education - Tom, Mary Ann, Michelle, and her 4-year-old son Tommy went on a cruise from Florida to Mexico.
Dave Bennett
Dave is a colonel in the U.S. Army. He said his dad laid the foundation for his children to become educated through his emphasis on education. Tom could have had a football career, but passed it up in favor of earning an advanced degree, Dave said. He noted Tom was a math wiz and enjoyed literature, even reading poetry to the children.
Tom's speech and writing styles were "impeccable," Dave said.
Part of the motivation toward good grades was Tom's reaction to the children's report cards, he said.
"This has led us all to where we are today - relatively articulate speakers of English who prize education," Dave said. "Education has opened a lot of doors for all of us. It has led me personally to a point where I can tackle any issue and quickly move to a graduate level of analysis, whether it be issues of national security or politics."
Dave said he is thankful he never had to pay for his education, since the U.S. Army is committed to financing soldiers' development.
He said he is continuing the tradition with his son, Chris.
"Although it was painful and not always fun, I rode him pretty hard to do his homework more diligently, study harder for tests, and strive to make up work where he could in order to improve his grades, even though he didn't see the need to worry so much about his GPA," Dave said. "Now he's looking at a $450,000 (plus) education at one of the premier institutions in the world for his efforts."
Robert Bennett
While Dave chose a career in the military, Robert chose to become an international lawyer in Geneva, Switzerland. He earned his doctorate degree in jurisprudence at Seattle University School of Law in 1998. He speaks English, German and Swedish.
"Those who think that education is superfluous should consider how they will heal themselves next time they get sick, make the pills they take next time they get a headache, assert their legal rights next time they are infringed, or manufacture, distribute and sell a simple pencil as well as just about every other device they've used in the past 24 hours," Robert said.
He said it was curiosity that motivated him to get an education and wisdom encouraged him to continue learning.
"One simply can't sit in school and soak education up like a sponge," he said. "Rather, one must work, study, think and write, and while doing these things forego other things that one would rather be doing. Education is not something that is given away without strings attached."
James Bennett
James teaches music to McLoughlin Middle School students in Pasco, Wash. He is a percussionist for the Yakima Symphony Orchestra. He also performs for the Mid-Columbia Symphony Orchestra and the Northern Oregon Symphony.
In addition to teaching at the school and performing, James is a private instructor for students ranging from middle school to university level.
He earned a master's degree in percussion performance from Central Washington University in 1995.
"Education has been so important in my life," James said. "I have always been encouraged by my family to do my best in school, and told how it would help me in life. This has proven true."
A major influence on James' education was his father, he said.
"He always encouraged all of us to do our best, and made us believe, not that college was possible, but that it was necessary and expected," James said. "As a result, all of his kids have at least two college degrees and all seem to be happy in the career they chose."
Michelle Bennett
Michelle is chief of police in Maple Valley, Wash., and recently completed her doctorate degree in education.
"Education is the great equalizer for all people. It has helped me greatly in my job with such skills as development, organization, project management, writing and communication," Michelle said. "My dad was the reason I believed education was so important. He encouraged all of us to go to college, from the time we were very young. I am very thankful for that."
She said she intends to teach college full time in the future.
Julia Metzker
Julia, an assistant professor at Georgia College in Milledgeville, Ga., teaches approximately three courses each semester, conducts research with graduate students, and chairs several committees at the college.
"I can't point to a single moment when education became valuable to me," Metzker said. "I know that when I graduated from high school, I had little intent on pursuing academics seriously. Being a student at Evergreen (State College) was truly a gift and changed my views about education."
Metzker said students could study what they wanted and had little external pressure to do well.
"I excelled in this environment, driven by a desire to explain and understand the phenomena I observed in the laboratory and in every day life," she said.
She described her time earning a master's degree at University of Arizona to be a challenge, but said she excelled.
As an instructor at Georgia College, Metzker was accepted to attend a two-week Fullbright Seminar and plans to travel to Washington D.C., to talk about teaching science to freshmen.
"I expect I will continue to work on these important projects in addition to my research in physical inorganic chemistry," she said. "I intend to apply for tenure next year. At the moment, I don't have many plans beyond continuing to make a valuable contribution to my university, my profession and the field of chemistry. Personally, I hope to implement as many sustainable habits at home and work as possible."
Patrick Moberg
Patrick is a construction lawyer for Kirwin Norris in Winter Park, Fla. He said education provided him with opportunities he would not otherwise have.
"But education did not start working for me until I started working for it," Patrick said. "I was only an average student in high school. I always thought I was smart enough, but I was more interested in other things."
During Patrick's senior year, he decided to take an advanced English class. The same teacher had taught him his junior year.
"I think he saw me as a trouble maker because after the first day of the advanced English class, he politely suggested that I switch to the regular English class. I was incensed," Patrick said. "My rebellious nature refused to yield to his polite suggestion and I stayed. That was the moment I took an interest in my own education."
Patrick has a doctorate degree from the University of Florida, a feat he is proud of because of the difficulty of getting accepted into the school. He said he is unsure whether law is going to be his final choice as a career, but he does know he has a lot of options.
"I give the credit of my advanced degree to my parents - all of them," Patrick said. "Education was a top priority in my families. Without the constant support and reminder of the importance of an education, I would never have made it this far. Today, every single member of my family has a graduate degree and I am proud of that. Now, I just wish we could take all that brain power and make some real money."
Jeremy Moberg
Jeremy, who monitors habitat and fish populations in the Wenatchee and Entiat rivers, earned his bachelor of science degree from Evergreen State College.
He said his English teacher in eighth and ninth grade was the first teacher to teach him critical thinking. He also learned from the teacher the history of civil obedience.
"In 1991 I had a chance to practice civil disobedience with the beginning of the first illegal Gulf War," Jeremy said. "We marched against the war, endured hate mail, threats, and were accosted on the streets for our stand against the war. For me, this was a pivotal point in my education, when I realized that education is not meant to provide opportunity, but to instill in me a sense of consciousness and justice."
Jeremy described challenges he faced battling the education system - he attended three different high schools on the quest to earn his diploma. At his first high school, he was required to take a career awareness class intended to teach him how to balance a checkbook, he said. At the second school, he was expelled. On the final day at his third high school, his teacher told him he would not get credit in the class because he did not finish the book, "The Inferno of Dante Alighieri."
"I figured the final circle of hell had to be a senior's final year in high school," Jeremy said.
His teacher would not give him lesser credits for the advanced placement course, so he went to his current world history teacher. In the history class, Jeremy participated in discussions but did not complete assignments out of protest for classes he did not feel were necessary except to maintain student counts for student enrollment-based funding.
His teacher gave him the credit based on his participation in class and Jeremy was able to graduate.
After high school, he attended Spokane Community College and then Evergreen State College.
"My professors believed education's purpose was to expand understanding, not to provide opportunity or employment," Jeremy said.
He said he never considered education to be an opportunity. At the same time, he would not have the opportunity to monitor habitat and fish populations without education.
"I enrolled in natural history classes and was embarrassed to realize that I knew very little about my surrounding environment," Jeremy said. "I actually spent my first year in college learning the species and habits of the plants and animals that I had grew up around, but knew nothing about."
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