Cumberland native Chanel Vaughan Leslie was recently named the Alabama PTA Council Elementary Teacher of the Year for the state of Alabama.  

Leslie was selected based on a wide range of criteria according to a release.

Leslie is a master math instructor at the Academy for Academics and Arts, an arts magnet school in Huntsville, Ala., where she was also named the 2015-16 Teacher of the Year. 

Leslie is a 1983 graduate of Cumberland High School and a 1997 graduate of Longwood College. 

She is the daughter of Douglas and JoAnn Vaughan and the mother of Danielle Vaughan, all of Cumberland. She resides in Huntsville, Ala., with her husband, Curtis.