A devoted public school teacher of over 40 years, Rebecca L. Lane-Jergentz began her career as a teaching assistant at the Cincinnati Public Schools in 1980 and a student teacher at White Oak Junior High School in Cincinnati in 1982. Acquired by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in 1983 as a science teacher, she likewise served as a curriculum advisor between 1988 and 1989. Relocating to San Jose, California, Ms. Lane-Jergentz has since been aligned with the John Muir Middle School as a seventh and eighth grade science teacher.
Outside the classroom, Ms. Lane-Jergentz has played an instrumental role with various relative organizations. She served on the San Jose Unified School District’s science task force and was involved with numerous science fairs. She was a science and literary inquiry academy faculty associate at San Jose State University, a consultant for the Just Say No organization at the Saint Clement School and, since 2014, has been active as a member of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) district advisory team. The NGSS is notably a multi-state effort in the United States to create new education standards for grades K-12 that are rich in content and practice, arranged in a coherent manner across disciplines and grades to provide all students an internationally benchmarked science education.
Born in Kansas to a family of educators, Ms. Lane-Jergentz proceeded to study in California, earning a Bachelor of Art in biology at San Francisco State University in 1979. She later completed postgraduate coursework at the University of Cincinnati between 1981 and 1988, and at Xavier University in Cincinnati during 1989. Ultimately, she acquired a Master of Education at the University of Phoenix in 2008. Eminently qualified in her field, Ms. Lane-Jergentz is a certified secondary science and biology teacher in the State of California.
Aligned with several industry-related organizations, Ms. Lane-Jergentz is currently a member of the National Science Teachers Association, the National Education Association and the California Educators Association. She was the recipient of a grant from the State of Ohio in 1989 and was later recognized for her contributions by the San Jose Police Department in 2019. A celebrated Marquis listee, Ms. Lane-Jergentz has been included in the 55th edition of Who’s Who in America, the third edition of Who’s Who in American Education, the 24th edition of Who’s Who in the Midwest and the 21st edition of Who’s Who of American Women.
Moving forward, Ms. Lane-Jergentz wants to teach for a few more years then do some exploring to see what her other interests are, but she has a good idea it will involve kids. She is looking at two more years in the classroom and she may retire or go on a different adventure leaving the classroom, so she will not completely retire because children in place has taught her that she can’t do that. Thus, she may do something related to education, but she is not sure yet. What separates Ms. Lane-Jergentz is that she doesn’t let things get to her much; she prefers to go with the flow, takes what is there and see how it best works for the kids. Additionally, she lets her kids speak for themselves as opposed to bragging because the children’s accomplishments speaks volume.
Ms. Lane-Jergentz would like to be remembered as somebody who cared, was passionate, who enjoyed doing what they do, and who looked at everybody and said they had a gift. To her, the best part is watching their relationships grow through the years and watching them blossom. At the beginning of the eighth grade, there is a lot of growth that takes place and she enjoys seeing that.