Tellish named Rural Teacher of the Year

RUSSELLVILLE — Middle school teacher Carley Andrews Tellish has been named the 2026 Spezzini Rural Teacher of the Year, an honor that recognizes one K-12 ESL teacher from Alabama and one from Mississippi.

Tellishreceivedtheaward through the Alabama-Mississippi Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages for her work with English learners in Russellville City Schools.

Superintendent Dr. Tim Guinn, who announced the award, said the recognition reflects more than classroom success. “We are extremely proud that Carley has been honored for all of her hard work and dedication that she puts into … not only her students, but also their families.” Guinn said. “The impact that she is having will pay dividends for generations for those families and our community.”

Tellish has taught students from a range of language backgrounds, primarily Spanish, but also Haitian Creole, Portuguese and Arabic.

TellishisfromTuscumbia and double majored in biology and Spanish in college. She originally planned to go to medical school before realizing it was not the right fit. Her path into teaching grew out of volunteer work.

While in college, she worked with Northwest Alabama Reading Aides helping adults learn to read. Because she was a Spanish major, she was paired with adult English learners and helped teach them to read in English.

“I really enjoyed doing that on the weekends,” she said. “I thought, if I enjoy doing this for free, I might as well go back to school and be able to work doing it.”

Tellish said what she enjoys most about her job is getting to know her students and their stories. One of her favorite projects each year asks students to write about their family’s journey to the United States.

“I feel like I’m teaching something that’s actually going to have practical, real-world skills — survival skills for our country and for their future. It feels like meaningful work.”

Tellish said she focuses on project-based learning and tries to make assignments as practical as possible. One classroom project has students design a taco truck or restaurant. They create menus, research ingredient prices, and build a basic business plan. At the end, they bring food from their menus and practice ordering, paying and calculating checks. “They get to be creative with it,” she said, “and we get to eat the food they bring, too.”

Tellish said she typically works with about 80 to 100 students a year across several class periods.

Some students were born in the United States or arrived at a young age and can speak English well but still struggle with reading and writing.

Others are newer arrivals who are still building basic vocabulary and literacy skills.

Tellish said one of the first things she must figure out is whether a student can read or write in any language at all.

“A lot of people assume you can just give the students Spanish notes and they can read it,” she said. “But a lot of them can’t do that. We’re really starting from very basic literacy skills.”

She said learning English takes time.

“It typically takes five to seven years to learn another language if you’re fully immersed,” she said. “English is especially hard because it’s a mixture of so many other languages and has so many exceptions to the rules.”

Each year, students take an English proficiency test, and Tellish walks them through their results, showing them where they have improved and where they can focus next.

She said Russellville Middle School has been the only school she has taught in, and she credits the support of colleagues for making the work possible.

“We really do work well as a team, and everyone cares about students as people, not just test scores,” Tellish said.

Thenominationforthe Spezzini Rural Teacher of the Year award came from Dr. Monica Ferris, an English Language regional specialist with the Alabama State Department of Education who previously taught in Russellville.

Ferris first worked with Tellish when Tellish was a university student completing classroom hours in Colbert County.

“Without pay, without credit, with nothing, just her commitment to teaching and her commitment to students — it was just above anything I’ve ever seen,” Ferris said.

She said Tellish builds strong relationships with students and then challenges them with high expectations. She recently visited Tellish’s classroom and watched students work on writing projects tied to realworld skills.

“It was amazing to see the engagement in her classroom,” Ferris said.

Edmund Martinez, an English Language teacher at Russellville High School, said Tellish “has an incredible ability to connect with students and meet them at their level of English.

“Students are drawn to teachers they know genuinely care, and she radiates that,” he said.

Tellish said her goal remains simple. She wants students to leave her classroom with a strong foundation in English and the confidence to use it.