When Robert Bergstrom began teaching, computers were the size of whole rooms, and cell phones were a mere idea in science fiction movies. Fifty-plus years later in the field, technology has changed, but he’s still there.
Though he’s been retired since 1999, Bergstrom, or Mr. B, as the kids call him, has been substitute teaching regularly at the middle school near his home since then—not quite ready to give it up. Which, as it turns out, says a lot about his love of teaching, especially considering it wasn’t his first career choice.
In 1959, Bergstrom was studying engineering at the University of Minnesota, taking off every other quarter to work since it was just he and his mom at home. “My sister said, ‘If you go to Mankato and get a teaching degree, I’ll pay for your education,’ ” he recalls. “So I transferred to Mankato.” He started with focuses in physical education and social studies, but after getting some insight from professors at the school, switched to elementary education because there were more job opportunities in teaching.
He wound up in Le Sueur, Minnesota, for two years, teaching and coaching the tennis team. And he still remembers his first day on the job. “The first day I was so petrified that my wife just about had to chase me out of the house because I was just worried I was going to screw everything up … and I don’t do well in front of a group of people,” he says. “Well, it turns out I can talk to kids without any problem. It’s adults I can’t talk to.”
In the small town, he recalls teachers being paid so little that everyone had a second job. He was the tennis pro at the local country club, but he and his wife also lived above the butcher shop and grocery store, so he’d help carry in the meat and hogs early in the morning when they arrived. “I’d never get paid for it, but my wife could get credit for groceries,” he says.
When he moved to White Bear Lake in 1967, he started teaching at Willow Lane Elementary, where his daughter attended kindergarten and first grade.
It “was a blessing and a curse,” says his daughter, Jane Kope. “He was in charge of discipline so kids didn’t really like him.” So the kids would take it out on her. “I think at some point I stopped taking the bus.”
He also coached boys’ traveling hockey, and was a regular cross-country skier, though the school didn’t have a team. “On Wednesday nights back in those days, you weren’t allowed to have hockey practice because it was church night,” he recalls. But one Wednesday night during hockey season he got a call from a team member: “ ‘This is Scott, Mr. B. What are you doing right now?’ I said, ‘Watching TV.’ And he said, ‘I’ll meet you up at the golf course on the big hill in 15 minutes.’ So I grabbed my skis and went out there and we skied for two hours.” The next morning, word had spread, and most of his hockey team came to him, asking for an after-school ski club.
It’s just one of the many stories showing how Bergstrom came to be a favorite teacher in White Bear Lake and how he’s gotten to know so many students. He coached boys’ traveling club hockey for 30 years, girls’ school hockey for five years, eighth-grade football, and ninth-grade boys’ and girls’ basketball for 30 years. And even in retirement, he worked as a judge for track and field and cross-country.
When asked if he’ll ever slow down, he responds, “They’re going to bury me when I slow down.”
Bergstrom’s colleague at Sunrise Park Middle School, U.S. history teacher Huy Nguyen, says part of what makes Bergstrom a great teacher is that “he has high standards for the classroom, and he holds kids accountable—but they love him.” When Bergstrom is seen in the school in the morning, students excitedly try to find out whom he’s subbing for, because they want him in their classroom.
“And he’ll stop in for lunch with them; they’ll ask him to come sit with them,” Nguyen says. “And these are middle school kids, not elementary school.” What does it take to get a middle school student to want you to sit with them at lunch? “He cares. And the kids know that he cares, so they open up to him.”
Students back up these statements, too. “Mr. B has always been there for me as a student, asking how it’s going and asking if I was having fun,” says eighth-grader Ben Koniar. “He always knows how to make classes more fun than just watching a movie or reading an article as most subs do.” Elaine Franta, who is in ninth grade, says, “Everyone is always so excited when they find out that he is teaching. He always brings candy to every class and tells us fun stories.”
Bergstrom is famous for his stories. One of his favorite things is running into students he had as a sub; they talk about the stories he used to tell. “I start telling stories and when I see they’re all believing everything, I start embellishing them a little bit and they believe every word I say,” laughs Bergstrom. “It’s just fun to be around younger kids.”
Which is why other teachers keep learning from him. “He’s just an inspiration to the other teachers in the district,” Nguyen says. “Here’s a man who’s dedicated his life to teaching. He’s just a role model of what a good teacher is.”
