But when he showed up in Santa Fe on a recent day to talk math with groups of middle schoolers at Nina Otero Community School, Ortiz Middle School and Milagro Middle School, he didn’t want the kids to know that.

The reason? Loh didn’t come to impress or teach the students; he came to learn from them.

Loh is on a mission to get kids thinking about math in a new way and to “build a more thoughtful world.” He intends to do that, in part, by traveling the world to learn about the specific needs and challenges today’s students face.

“I wanted to know, what is the learning culture? What is the atmosphere inside this school? Because the more places that I see, the more ideas I have,” Loh said.

Online learning reimagined

One of Loh’s big ideas involves an unexpected equation in which high schoolers plus middle schoolers plus professional actors, comedians and entertainers add up to one groundbreaking approach to engaging students in math and expanding their minds.