SPANISH FORT, Ala. — As a young executive, Michelle Nelson has experienced firsthand the value a quality education can have in shaping a professional career, but ideas for creating educational excellence are nothing more than words on paper if there are no leaders to put them into motion.

“As someone who grew up here and became part of the workforce, I realized what a vital role my education played in my becoming a successful adult,” said Nelson, who was born and raised in Foley and currently serves as vice chairman of Meyer Real Estate and the South Baldwin Chamber Foundation.

“I know what a solid education has done for me, and I want it to work for the Baldwin County children who are going to be our workforce in the future, and I certainly want it to be there for my kids someday,” she said.

That desire, Nelson said, led her to accept the appointment two weeks ago as external co-chair for Target 3 of the recently unveiled and Baldwin County Board of Education-approved Yes We Can Baldwin Strategic Plan.

Specifically, Target 3 aims to develop leadership “at all levels” who will “transform education” via eight goals:

• Align the mission of the Baldwin County Public Schools with priorities established by the Yes We can Community Agreement.
• Implement a systematic plan to develop teacher leaders.
• Implement a system to develop principal leaders.
• Implement a system to develop district leaders.
• Implement a system to develop parent and community leaders.
• Implement a system to develop student leaders.
• Create a culture of customer service.
• Create a culture of community support and respect for educators.

Yes We Can Baldwin is a grassroots educational improvement consortium that combines the efforts of the Baldwin County Education Coalition with both the school district and stakeholders in the community, from business leaders and nonprofits to churches and civic organizations. The coalition, meanwhile, represents each of the school system’s seven feeder patterns, giving all parties involved a voice.

Nelson said the identification and implementation of “best practices” and access to ongoing professional development for teachers will be key to cultivating leaders across the board.

“It’s really easy for us all to go straight to the kids, but we owe our educators a great deal of the same educational opportunities. They deserve these continued growth opportunities in order to provide our children the world-class education they deserve,” Nelson said.

Meanwhile, a customer service focus has been placed on Target 3’s implementation to help continue engaging the community and stakeholders consistently.

“From the business world, I know customer service is essential, but it should actually be present in everything we do. Think of the child who walks into the school office because he’s late, and how he’s treated. He’s learning from the way he’s treated, and it’s our responsibility to ensure consistent, quality service is the rule and not the exception,” Nelson said.

In addition, the following strategies are just a few of the suggested action steps suggested for instilling committed leadership at all levels:

• Vertical teaming in feeder patterns will be key to enhance networking and collaboration.
• Teacher-to-teacher mentoring.
• Implementation of leadership academies to train aspiring administrators.
• Development of a video library at the district level that demonstrates accessible, replicable best leadership practices across the system.
• Including community leaders in parent-teacher advisory groups.
• Implementation of  a student advisory board.
• Identification of both internal and external “customers” served by the strategic plan.
• Implementation of a customer service delivery plan to provide consistent customer service excellence.
• Communicating clearly the rationale for major decisions.
• Creating opportunities for community members to visit schools.
• Engaging area businesses and organizations to include educators in leadership training opportunities.

“This is a living, breathing process. It’s a continuing process, and the only way it’s going to succeed is if we have as many people as possible from the community be supportive of it and participative in it,” Nelson said. “This isn’t something where all the meetings have taken place and now we’re going to sit back and see what somebody else is going to do with it. It’s up to all of us to make it work.”

Born of community input culled from some 85 conversations that attracted the participation of more than 1,300 area residents concerned about the condition and direction of public education in Baldwin County, the plan addresses five key areas, identified during that process as critical to improving the quality of education countywide:

• Funding
• Data-driven accountability.
• Leadership.
• Ensuring every child is college or career ready.
• Communications.

The complete strategic plan is available for review online at www.bcbe.org, and a 30-day public comment period began May 17 when organizers unveiled the document.