MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – She has twelve American Country Music Awards, a record-breaking song, and a sold-out national tour. But before the fame, Ella Langley was growing up in Hope Hull with a guitar and a dream and a history teacher who believed in her.
Langley’s hit ‘Choosin Texas’ is in its 16th week at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. She returns to Alabama at the end of August for two shows in Auburn on The Dandelion Tour. But among the crowds eager to welcome her back, one man has been cheering her on longer than most.
Maury Popwell has been teaching for 57 years. He’s spent 22 of them at Hooper Academy in Hope Hull, where students and colleagues know him simply as ‘Coach Pop’…