Extraordinary Life: Biology Teacher, And Friend To Struggling Students

For Jane Bergeron, life was all about helping others, whether it involved dissecting fetal pigs, encouraging a student struggling with adolescent angst or negotiating better treatment for patients in a nursing home. She was a direct, no-nonsense biology teacher and a loyal friend who loved bawdy Shakespearean jokes.

For nearly 40 years, she was a beloved and respected biology teacher at Hall High School in West Hartford.

Jane McCorkle Bergeron, 77, died Feb. 19. She had lived with her husband, Robert Bergeron Jr., in the Pleasant Valley section of Barkhamsted.

Jane was born on Sept. 15, 1937 in Philadelphia to Ralph and Mildred McCorkle, but her parents divorced when she was young, and she moved to Tom's River, N.J., where her mother taught Latin. She was interested in science, loved horses and excelled at sports. Of the five girls in her close circle of friends, she was the most adventurous, said Faith Roberts, a classmate as well as smart: Bergeron was ranked fourth in her class academically.

She went to Springfield College, prepared to be a physical education teacher, and taught PE for several years. But she had injured her back baling hay, and later damaged her knee while skiing, so she took courses in order to teach another favorite subject: biology, which required less physical exertion.

She studied at the University of Michigan, Southern Connecticut State University and Eastern Connecticut State University, and continued taking courses to keep up with the rapidly changing field. She began teaching at Hall in 1962.

Bergeron was an energetic and imaginative teacher who introduced oceanography into the curriculum, qualified as a scuba diver and took students on field trips to Bermuda during spring break. For years, she was in charge of the plant and animal room at the school, which meant overseeing the students who watered the plants and fed the various creatures kept there. It also meant caring for the various snakes, mice, rats and other animals herself during vacations and over the summer.

Her son, Robert, grew up in a menagerie, with a basement and backyard full of cages containing boa constrictors, lizards, guinea pigs and skunks.

In school, Bergeron was known for her extra efforts with underachieving students.

"She was great with kids who were struggling, and made them feel wanted," said Fred Brown, another biology teacher at Hall.

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Extraordinary Life: Biology Teacher, And Friend To Struggling Students