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Teacher, assistant principal, principal, coordinator of elementary and federal programs, coordinator of personnel, deputy superintendent, superintendent.
In her 34-year career with the , Suzanne Lacey has held a job at nearly every level of the district. She鈥檚 spent those decades transforming the educational environment in the sprawling, low-income, rural district.

That has meant putting a device in every student鈥檚 hands, creating high-tech tinkering spaces, providing teachers with innovative professional development, and showing the Talladega school board, students, educators, and the community what lies beyond the engine roar of the Talladega Superspeedway.

Lacey, 56, uses technology to bring the world鈥檚 resources to Alabama, but she also wants to open the wider world to her community. She鈥檚 taken students, parents, and school board members to see what project-based learning looks like in Sacramento, Calif; she brought educators to Pittsburgh to soak up innovative uses of maker spaces. Last year, Talladega middle school teachers found themselves at Google鈥檚 Sunnyvale, Calif., headquarters for specialized technology training.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 have the most resources, but we鈥檙e going to find a way to provide really great opportunities for our kids,鈥� Lacey said. 鈥淭hat is our driving force, and it never gets old.鈥�

The Talladega County district is 60 miles long dotted with small communities and wide swaths of rural woodland, including the Talladega National Forest, and, of course, the famed NASCAR speedway. Seventy percent of the district鈥檚 7,600 students are low income, and 36 percent are minority.

To understand Talladega County schools today, it helps to look at the path of Winterboro High School, a district standout, attracting visitors from around the country to observe its project-based-learning model.

In 2007, the low-income, 300-student school had discipline problems and a graduation rate that was below the state average. Test scores were dismal. Its rural location鈥擥PS struggles to get visitors there鈥攎eans the school is a linchpin for the community.

The historic Winterboro school building, constructed in the 1920s with stones parents dug out of their yards, was dilapidated and crumbling. In 2007, under a previous superintendent, the district had planned to partner with a national group to overhaul the school, complete with a new building.

Lacey became superintendent in 2008, and shortly after, Alabama lawmakers slashed education funding. Lacey was undeterred, though she had to pivot, said Vicky Ozment, the deputy superintendent of the district who was at the time the Winterboro principal.

鈥淥ne of the deepest driving forces in her soul is that every single student in our district gets the same opportunities as a student in an affluent district,鈥� Ozment said.

Winterboro cobbled together a project-based-learning model relying on the school鈥檚 own educators as experts, giving students 鈥渧oice and choice鈥� in solving real-world problems in their community. It forces them to work collaboratively, take control of their own learning, to present, to research. Technology helps to boost and support the effort, but it isn鈥檛 the focus, Lacey said.

Simultaneously, the district invested in a physical school redesign, tearing down walls and beefing up tech infrastructure. In a nod to the school鈥檚 history, Lacey kept the building鈥檚 stone fa莽ade that previous generations helped build.

A year after project-based learning was implemented, the graduation rate rose from 64 percent to 82 percent, and disciplinary referrals dropped from 1,800 to 300. Last year, all seniors graduated, with a college-acceptance rate of 96 percent, said Winterboro Principal Emily Harris. The transformation wasn鈥檛 without some pain鈥攁 number of teachers not on board with the new approach left, Lacey said

Today, visitors might see 8th graders racing robotic Sphero chariots in the hallways, after learning about the Roman Empire. Students might be using the 3-D printer or coding in the school鈥檚 STEAM lab. In 2014, the Alliance for Excellent Education highlighted progress at Winterboro High, featuring the high school at a Library of Congress ceremony.

Lacey pressed for the changes at Winterboro because of her commitment to students, said Eric G. Mackey, Alabama鈥檚 state superintendent. 鈥淭hat community has no political clout鈥攏o state senator or board member saying, 鈥榊ou have to do something,鈥欌�呪�� he said, 鈥淪he was just not willing to let students there lag behind.鈥�

Within a year of Winterboro鈥檚 success, Lacey began to roll out the project-based model to other schools in the district.

Now, Talladega students in grades K-2 have iPads, and those in grades 3-12 use Chromebooks. All schools have adopted some form of project-based learning. Lacey continues to push the technological envelope with a focus on maker spaces and STEM or STEAM, insisting schools incorporate those concepts into all classes鈥攏ot just science and math. All 17 schools are seeking specialized STEM certifications from nonprofit AdvanceEd.

Childhood Ambitions Realized

There was never any doubt that Lacey would be a teacher. Growing up in a neighboring county, Lacey set up a classroom in her house, complete with school library and chalkboard. Her Christmas presents came from the teacher supply store. 鈥淚 truly felt like it was a calling from early on,鈥� she said.

She came to Talladega County right out of college and recognized it as a progressive place. The district has a history of strong female leadership鈥攖he two superintendents who preceded Lacey were women鈥攊n a state dominated by district leaders who are men.

But Lacey never aspired to the superintendent鈥檚 job. In fact, when first offered the job of an assistant principal, she couldn鈥檛 imagine leaving the classroom and initially turned it down. But after taking that step, she steadily climbed the ranks in the district, reaching the central office and taking on the superintendent鈥檚 role. Over that time, she鈥檚 built up an unprecedented level of trust with her community, observers say. She鈥檚 legendary for remembering the names of current and former students, recalling family members and interests. She writes notes to board members, students, and colleagues thanking them, praising them, recognizing their accomplishments.

Jennifer Barnett, whose children have attended Childersburg High School, said Lacey sent her youngest son a note after he became the school鈥檚 first male cheerleader. 鈥淪he said she was so proud of him not being afraid to go for what he wanted,鈥� Barnett said.

Lacey is known for being prepared, a motivator, well-organized, and setting a high bar for herself and her staff. She鈥檚 not a superintendent who hogs the limelight, often shifting praise for the district鈥檚 accomplishments away from herself and toward her team.

鈥淪he sets the culture for the whole county,鈥� said Monique Chatman, the technology-integration specialist at Talladega鈥檚 Drew Middle School. 鈥淪he helps us understand that we鈥檙e all in the process of learning so we鈥檙e not afraid to take risks.鈥�

Lacey鈥檚 rapport with the Talladega school board makes members receptive to her often experimental ideas, said Mackey, the state schools chief. 鈥淲hen she tells them she wants to do things that are kind of earthshaking 鈥� the board doesn鈥檛 hold her back. They stick with her,鈥� Mackey said.

That comes down to the relationship she鈥檚 built with board members, said board Chairwoman Sandra Tuck, who taught for 35 years in Talladega County. 鈥淲e really trust her,鈥� Tuck said. 鈥淪he doesn鈥檛 leave us out of anything.鈥�

Lacey calls or texts board members once or twice a week with updates. She often takes them to see cutting-edge programs in other districts, or brings students to board sessions to present about their school projects.

鈥淚 try to educate [the board] on the front end, so when it鈥檚 time to make a decision, they have all the facts and knowledge,鈥� Lacey said.

Getting Creative With Funds

To do all this, Lacey and her staff have had to be creative with funds. When the district was starting to emphasize technology, Talladega took castoff PCs from a bigger district. When the state of Alabama told districts they could use state textbook funding to pay for technology, Lacey jumped on board. Sometimes she chooses to patch a school roof instead of replace it or wash walls instead of paint them, in order to buy more devices, said Avery Embry, the district鈥檚 chief financial officer.

Embry admits to being 鈥渁 numbers guy鈥� but said Lacey insisted he understand what was at stake beyond the spreadsheets. 鈥淪he changed my focus,鈥� he said. 鈥淪he gave me the opportunity to go into the schools and see what students were doing with this technology.鈥�

A $300,000 grant from the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative helped her bring training around STEM, coding, and computational thinking to the district. Other grants followed, including $1 million from the National Science Foundation鈥攕hared with two other districts鈥攆or teacher PD. She鈥檚 also willing to share what she鈥檚 learned鈥擫acey is a former president of the School Superintendents of Alabama, as well as the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, among other state and national leadership positions.

To sustain her efforts in Talladega, Lacey emphasizes a 鈥済row-your-own model.鈥� For example, Ozment is finishing a Ph.D. in computational thinking. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 go out and hire people to do this,鈥� Lacey said. 鈥淲e may not have the money, but we have extraordinary talent.鈥�

Lacey voraciously seeks out opportunities. 鈥淪ometimes I think, 鈥楲ord don鈥檛 go to that conference,鈥� because she鈥檒l come back with 100,000 ideas,鈥� Ozment said.

A big part of that has been the district鈥檚 acceptance into Digital Promise鈥檚 League of Innovative Schools, Lacey said. Through Digital Promise, Talladega was chosen to participate in the Dynamic Learning Project鈥攁 partnership with Google to train teachers on innovative ed-tech uses. That鈥檚 where the trip to Google came in.

For educator Chatman, visiting Google was a 鈥渃omplete game changer.鈥� The experience helped her understand how to coach teachers to avoid using technology as a substitute for learning. Chatman felt Google officials were surprised by how advanced the rural Alabama district already was in this area.

鈥淭hey were shocked, working with our system,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut that鈥檚 because Dr. Lacey gave us a strong foundation.鈥�

Lacey鈥檚 vision isn鈥檛 limited by technology. The schools in the Munford area of the county partner with the National Forest Service on projects like tracking black bear movements or the health of the fisheries environment. Talladega schools tap the resources at the Speedway to study physics and motion. She鈥檚 constantly trying to connect project-based learning to the community. For example, a notable project had 5th graders research the redevelopment of a city park and present findings to the Lincoln City Council.

鈥淲hen I see what our kids and families don鈥檛 have, that drives me harder to make sure what we do at school is the very best,鈥� Lacey said.

鈥淚 will spend my last working hour with that as the ultimate goal.鈥�