Veteran educator Reed Thomas didn’t have all the answers when he left his teaching position in Las Vegas and arrived at North Sanpete High School in the small hamlet of Mt. Pleasant, Utah. His charge was almost impossibly difficult: figure out how to rally a group of unmotivated, struggling students and transform them into kids who were involved, interested in school, and—maybe most difficult of all—so confident in themselves that they would leave, diploma in hand, and make a success of their lives.

But that’s exactly what happened. Some called it a miracle. The humble man who watched as one student after another triumphed over the odds was hailed for his unflinching faith in them. But Reed Thomas—the man who could never back away from a challenge—hailed the students as the heroes. Thomas became, as Gandhi challenged, the change he wanted to see, not only at the school but also in the world.

His true story teaches principles and solutions anyone can apply in every walk of life. You’ll laugh, feel inspired, and even shed a tear or two as you cheer for the students who turned their lives around, come to honor the man who encouraged them, and feel empowered to make your own difference in the world.