Ms. Jennifer Bellendir, born February 15, is an encouraging, inspiring, and hard-working 7th-grade history and ASB teacher. She attended Cal State Fullerton for her undergrad, receiving her degrees in Journalism and Radio TV Film. She got her teaching credential at Cal State Long Beach. Before becoming a teacher, Ms. Bellendir designed and sold laptop cases and backpacked worldwide. Before teaching at McAuliffe, she taught in Burbank and Long Beach. Ms. Bellendir used to coach softball at Troy High School in Fullerton, which inspired her to be a teacher. Ms. Bellendir chose to become a history teacher because she taught English in Spain, and realized she liked teaching, but wasn’t passionate about English. Ms. Bellendir loved visiting the ruins of old civilizations, and wanted to make history interesting for students, so she became a history teacher. Ms. Bellendir became an ASB teacher because she wanted to teach more than just history, so she taught a journalism and ASB joint class. The class became only ASB because finding kids who wanted to do ASB and writing was hard.

Fun Facts: 

• Ms. Bellendir’s favorite places to travel to are Botswana, Mongolia, Ireland, Brazil, and India.
• Her favorite class in college was a Comparative Religions Class because she found it the most interesting class.
• She loves adventure and gets a thrill from extreme activities like skydiving.
• She has traveled to 81 countries. 
• If Ms. Bellendir had not been a teacher, she would have wanted to be a helicopter pilot or a detective.
• Her favorite thing about teaching is building relationships with students and seeing their growth.
• Her favorite food is sushi.
• Ms. Bellendir’s favorite drink is coffee.
• Her favorite color is sage green.
• She considers her dog as her child.

“Ms. Bellendir always makes lessons fun and engaging while still teaching us so much.” -Maddie Caulder

“Ms. Bellendir is an amazing person who always strives to make her students the best versions of themselves. I am always in awe of how hard she works and how determined she is to make her students amazing people.” -Lily Valente

“I like the way Ms. Bellendir teaches and her personality.” -Emahni Kalhun

“Ms. Bellendir is truly one of the best teachers I have known. She is someone who I will always feel comfortable talking to and sharing things with. I could never thank her enough for all the teaching and support she has given me!” -Cali Perreira

“Ms. Bellendir is so hard working and kind. She understands what you need and talks it through with you. She is just the best.”  -Josiah Williams

“Ms. Bellendir is hard working and motivated to drive her students to be better learners and successful.” -Ruben Fenton

“I think Ms. Bellendir is a really good teacher and she makes learning history really fun.” -Brooke Bresler

“Ms. Bellendir is an incredibly kind and dedicated leadership teacher who always believes in us and pushes us to be the best we can be. She challenges us to step up, take responsibility, and grow into confident leaders.  No matter the challenge, she never stops encouraging us, always seeing our potential even when we don’t see it ourselves. The things she teaches us go beyond the classroom, teaching us important skills that shape us into stronger, more capable people. Her passion, support, and belief in us make us the best we can be.” – Brooklyn Duong

“Ms. Bellendir’s passion has always been teaching others, before she taught here at McAuliffe, she went to homeless shelters and taught kids in the shelters how to read and write.” – Greyson Pawlacyk