Evolution is gradual, but revolution is about changing things quickly. Change is what Amen Rahh, the Revolutionary Principal and author, aims to do within his school and ultimately, the world. Change Starts Here host Dustin Odham chatted with Rahh about his background and his goals to inspire revolution across educational culture.

Rahh was straight forward, “I’m happy to…talk about how we are going to revolutionize education and ultimately the world.” As the youngest of six, a father, husband, friend, and social advocate, Rahh has a lot on his plate, but he wasn’t always headed on the path to education. In fact, Rahh wanted to be a rapper and a professional football player and didn’t see the relevance of school despite his father being a professor.

After his father was incarcerated while he was in high school, Rahh wasn’t sure what he was going to do. At 20, he started working as a teacher’s aide, where he realized a few things were amiss. “That was when I got into education and I started to see the inequities that exist in education and that’s what really motivated me to become a principal man,” he told Odham.

When one of his first classes given to him was full of all the so-called troubled kids that “didn’t have a relationship with the principal,” Rahh realized he could do more, so he went out and did just that, as a principal in his community. For Rahh, he said, “So, revolution is making a positive and meaningful impact on yourself, your school, your community and ultimately the world.” This could mean building relationships with kids and knowing their names, or it could be invigorating the curriculum with more practical applications. Either way, “Revolutionary school culture is how you build an aspirational environment that motivates kids to want to be there more than any other place in the world,” said Rahh.

Kids should want to come to school, but the environment should also be a place where adults want to come and thrive too. Rahh asked, “One of the key things was, ‘How do you build an organizational culture for your staff to want to be there?’” For Rahh, it’s revolution by revolution.