Mr. Bergstrom

"I'm Mr. Bergstrom. Feel free to make fun of my name if you want. Two suggestions are Mr. "Nerdstrom" and Mr."Boogerstrom"."

- Mr. Bergstrom

"I'm sorry, Lisa. It's the life of the substitute teacher. He's a fraud. Today he wears gym shorts, tomorrow he speaks French or runs a band saw or God knows what."

- Mr. Bergstrom

"Goodbye, Lisa, honey! It'll be okay. Just read the note!"

- Mr. Bergstrom's final words to Lisa

Mr. Bergstrom is a substitute teacher, who was Lisa Simpson's substitute teacher for a period of time.

History
Mr. Bergstrom took over for Ms. Hoover after she believed she had Lyme Disease and Lisa immediately took to him because he was the kind of male role model she needed in her life. However, after Ms. Hoover returned, he had to leave Springfield. A distraught Lisa ran to stop him, and Mr. Bergstrom gave her a note saying "You are Lisa Simpson". He then leaves for the projects in Capitol City, never to be seen again.

When Lisa was sad because Maggie was smarter that her, Marge gave Lisa a paper that said "You are Lisa Simpson" and then Lisa says, "I already have one of those," referring to Mr. Bergstrom's note.

Mr Bergstrom made a non-speaking cameo on "The Kid Is All Right". Marge informed Lisa her food was getting cold. When Lisa stated her raw vegetables are supposed to be cold, Marge stated someone who loves you was adding hot butter to her food. Marge is shown thanking Mr Bergstrom and stated she would inform Lisa that he came by.

Behind the Laughter
He, like his voice actor, Dustin Hoffman, is Jewish. He is an artistic, liberal teacher who tries to inspire his students, even though that means some will make fun of him, by drawing a picture of him with his guitar and naming him "The Singing Dork". Instead of being offended by this, however, he laughs and asks Lisa if he may keep it. Lisa says she did not draw it, although his praise of the art makes her wish she did. Mr. Bergstrom also encourages the students to patronize the Springfield Museum of Natural History, as it will soon be going bankrupt. This inspires Lisa to visit, and Homer is grudgingly made to chaperone her. Mr. Bergstrom encourages Homer to think more highly of himself, for he is the only man in the world who is Lisa's father.

Trivia

 * Mr. Bergstrom has no immediate romantic interests and cares more for his students. This is made evident by his quote, "I'm sorry Mrs. Krabappel, you're very nice, but it's the children I love".
 * Oddly, the surname "Bergstrom" is Swedish, not Yiddish.
 * Dustin Hoffman was credited under the name "Sam Etic" for voicing Mr. Bergstrom. "Sam Etic" is most likely a play on the word "Semitic", which means Jewish.