Hannah Bellinger

Tell us why you became a teacher

After years of honing my Spanish skills in and out of the classroom and country, people kept telling me I was great at explaining things to others and helping people when they struggled with learning something. I take joy and pride and helping others understand things better (usually Spanish) but sometimes this translates into other areas of my students’ lives. I can make a student feel seen, heard, appreciated, and loved - things we all deserve but that teens especially need.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

It’s silly, but sometimes the funny things just make you love teaching even more… During one of my first years of teaching when I was at a junior high, my kids were really into texting shorthand: specifically JK, LOL, and BRB. Rather than using the Spanish I taught them, they just said these with Spanish letters: jota la, ele o ele, be ere be (respectively). I gave in & enjoyed their creativity in “translanguaging” but was adamant that “jajaja” (hahaha) is NOT like “jawjawjaw”. 😑

What would you do with the $25,000?

After giving some to the recent-immigrant communities where I live (Seattle) and where I work (Bothell) as I know it’s hard to integrate into a new place, I’d like to visit a Spanish-speaking country I haven’t been to (Bolivia, Ecuador, the DR, El Salvador, Paraguay) then maybe finally put a down payment on a condo since I can’t afford one here in Seattle otherwise.