About the Author of Quick Guide to Good Kids
Parent
Virginia Bentz is the proud parent of two young adults, Cindy and Dave. She says that raising these two children is her greatest accomplishment, her most valuable contribution. After 26 years of parenting, she believes much of the parent’s role involves protecting children from various social dangers. This is entirely possible, and she was able to do it even in a society that tempts teens with wanton violence, underage drinking, illegal drug use, and premature sex.
Within this protective shield, Bentz believes, the parent has a unique capacity to encourage children’s choices and help developing interests along. The children’s experience with different activities, their emerging talents, and their growing understanding of their own likes and dislikes allow them to find fulfilling roles in adulthood.
Reader
Bentz has been an avid reader all her life, since the age of ten. She loves classic literature, with Jane Austen, Leo Tolstoy, and Charles Dickens among her personal favorites. Bentz also enjoys mysteries and science fiction, from Harlan Coben to Neal Gaiman. She reads many current bestsellers as well, with Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle, and Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner topping her recent reading list. Of books, she says, “It’s a love affair.”
Borders Books
Virginia Bentz has worked for seven years as a bookseller at Borders Books in Erie. “It’s so exciting,” she confides. “Now I’ve moved beyond fiction into reading other types of books. The bookstore is a tremendous resource. There are so many different kinds of writing coming out, and people are often looking for unique subjects and information. It’s fascinating.”
Story Time
Bentz presents a weekly story time at Borders for toddlers and parents. Babies are welcome, too. After reading the story, she enjoys helping the kids assemble a craft that reflects the tale. The kids take their creations home.
“It’s very rewarding to watch the moms, dads, grandmas, and grandpas working with their little ones,” says Bentz. “I like to see the kids progress from shyness and spotty attention to answering questions, listening to the story, and putting together the craft with their own creative touches. It’s a process that happens week by week, month by month, and year by year.”
House of Healing
Virginia Bentz believes that children are more likely to succeed when they learn to listen and to love books from an early age, when they are most impressionable. Motivated by this belief, Bentz volunteers with children at the House of Healing once a week. As part of their evening activities, the children listen to her read a story book as they look at the pictures. Then they make a craft that they keep to show their moms.
The House of Healing is a facility in Erie, Pennsylvania that provides an alternative to incarceration for women who have been convicted of nonviolent crimes. By agreeing to house rules, they can live there with their children until they complete the program.
After the women graduate from this program, find jobs, and move into their own places, the House of Healing continues to offer support. Volunteers help with holiday activities and spend several evenings a week working with the kids. This eases the burden of single parenting, with limited means, and encourages positive progress for the family.
Education
Virginia Bentz has been an English major all her life. She received a B.A. in English from Penn State University, an M.A. in English from Gannon University, and a Ph.D. in English from Case Western Reserve University. Bentz has published academic papers on writing and literature. She has presented papers at several symposia.
Teaching
Virginia Bentz has taught college English at Gannon University and Mercyhurst College as an adjunct lecturer. She enjoyed reviewing the student essays written in her freshman writing courses, research courses, and western literature classes. Bentz also obtained Pennsylvania teaching certification and taught high school English.
Freelance Writing
Virginia Bentz has published free lance articles in the former Erie Magazine, the former Erie & Chatauqua Magazine, and the Erie Times-News. She has also done 37 years of journaling, starting at the age of 16. She considers that much of her book’s authenticity comes from her lifelong tendency to “write things down.”
The Arts
Virginia Bentz maintains a continuous fondness for the arts. She loves to watch live theatre, including drama, musicals, high school and college productions, and the Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario. In Erie, she sings with the Presque Isle Chorale, a 50-voice choral group. She likes listening to live music, visiting art shows, and watching dance presentations.
“The arts are a wonderful emotional outlet,” says Bentz. “I think kids should be exposed to music, to writing, to dancing, to live theatre early in life. This is an exciting and safe way for them to spend time, an alternative to sports that provides great entertainment and skills that they can acquire and enjoy throughout their lives. You don’t have to be Picasso to enjoy painting. Just as you don’t have to be Terrell Owens to enjoy football.”
What the Kids Are Doing Now
Bentz’s daughter, Cindy, 26, is an electrical engineer, currently working on her doctorate at Stanford University. Cindy has been a 4.0 student throughout college. She is the recipient of multiple research awards, among them a three-year research fellowship from the National Science Foundation and a three-year Stanford graduate fellowship. Her first professional paper, on neural engineering, will be published in October 2006.
Bentz’s son, David, 23, is a senior biomedical engineering major at Case Western Reserve University with one semester to go. He is currently in Brazil on a five month volunteer stint with the United Methodist Church Volunteers in Mission. He has worked at social centers in Belo Horizonte and Liberdad that provide another half day of schooling for disadvantaged Brazilian children. David has participated in two medical relief expeditions down the Amazon River, serving populations that have no access to doctors or hospitals.
People have asked Bentz, what if her children do something wrong?
“Well,” Bentz says, “they probably will. We all fail at some things along the way, and we succeed at others. I certainly have had failures as well as successes. The point is, a parent’s love is unconditional. I will still love them no matter what they do. I hope they will always tell me about the rough spots in their lives, because I will always help them out if I can. To me, this is what a parent does. It has been tremendously fulfilling -- and even exciting -- to watch them morph into adults. I believe in them absolutely.”