Teachers are like those special forces soldiers who train in impossible conditions so that real combat feels manageable by comparison.
Except instead of enemy fire, they dodge flying glue sticks while simultaneously teaching fractions, managing meltdowns, and texting helicopter parents about snack allergies.
Ana Romero used this battlefield experience to become our Chief of Staff at Subject. After years of teaching a kindergarten immersion Spanish program, she discovered something that teachers and corporate world alike desperately needs to hear:
Teachers possess a superpower that no MBA program teaches.
They understand how humans actually learn and change. Not theoretically—practically. From thousands of breakthrough moments, resistance patterns, and behavior shifts happening right in front of them.
Romero tells teachers considering career moves:
"You're not qualified for the leadership role. You're overqualified."
Here’s what’s on the dashboard this week:
Today’s Deep Dive: Why teachers are CEO material
Reading Rainbow: Picture books, coding, and hard books
From Our Desk: Catch us on LinkedIn!
Watch of the Week: Turn monster fights into lesson plans
Partner Highlight: One of our favorite Southern Californian superintendents
The superpower teachers don’t recognize
Contrary to public opinion, leaving the classroom does NOT mean abandoning education.
Ana, who has traded teaching Spanish immersion for closing million-dollar deals, thinks most people got it backwards. You're not abandoning anything. You're scaling your impact to where education desperately needs it most.
Here's the superpower teachers carry into this new year that they don't even recognize: They understand how humans actually learn and change. While corporate consultants charge $5,000 a day to explain behavioral psychology, teachers have been living it with the world's most brutally honest focus group. Kids who will tell you immediately when your lesson sucks.
"Teachers always have their objectives and their goals very clearly aligned," explains Ana. She adds that teachers would have an easy shift to the corporate life since most “think a year in advance now, instead of weekly objectives, or daily objectives for lessons."
But what makes teachers invaluable in organizational settings is that they've spent years observing resistance, breakthrough moments, and behavior modification in real time.
In a nutshell, teachers:
Know that sustainable change happens through relationship-building
Understand that people need light structure before taking intellectual risks
Witnessed thousands of "eureka!” moments and know exactly what conditions create them
These unique insights from teachers can completely transform how companies handle everything from employee training to culture development.
More than ever, this wisdom is crucial for leadership positions within the education sector:
Districts need superintendents who remember what third period actually feels like
EdTech companies need product leaders who understand why teachers abandon platforms after two weeks
Policy makers need advisors who've tried a bunch of different classroom management strategies with real students
Every teacher considering that district role, EdTech position, or policy job should know: You're more than qualified. You’re perfect for the role. You've been training for this for your entire career under conditions that would make most executives cry.
You just called it "teaching."
Find out what makes teachers unstoppable in business here →
Picture Books > PowerPoints: Early grade teachers already know this, but apparently everyone else needed Edutopia to confirm it: picture books make complex concepts stick better than your average corporate presentation. Turns out kindergarten teachers have been doing advanced instructional design this whole time.
Students Need Coding Before They Need Calculus: Computer science isn't just programming. It's the foundation for understanding how AI actually works. Nothing says "future-ready" like students who know why ChatGPT occasionally thinks cats have eight legs.
Why Schools Teach Pythagorean Theorem But Not Compound Interest: TEACH Magazine tackles the obvious question: Why do we force kids to memorize ancient Greek math but not teach them how money grows? It's probably because school boards prefer financially illiterate voters.
Should Struggling Readers Read Hard Books?: There’s new research on grade-level texts for struggling students. The findings might shock administrators who think "just give them easier books" counts as differentiated instruction.
Full circle moment: Ana Romero recently partnered with her former district as part of our work with the Association of California School Administrators and Los Angeles Unified School District for the 2025 Techquity Summit. Watch the recap here.
Are you a district or school planning to adopt a new curriculum in 2026? If so, we’d love to invite you at our Subject Conference in Los Angeles, February 25–27, 2026. Learn more here.
Want to keep up with the latest news from our team in 2026? Make sure you’re following us on LinkedIn, too!
Our pick of the week: Stranger Things - Season 5
Why We’re Obsessed: The final season dropped this year, which means your students will either be sobbing over character deaths or debating fan theories instead of paying attention to your actual curriculum. Since you can't beat the Upside Down, join it. Plus, it’s an educational gold mine! It’s a show that seamlessly blends 1980s nostalgia, government conspiracy theories, and actual science concepts that would make all our physics teacher weep with joy.
Recommended lesson integration:
Cold War paranoia meets modern fears (Grades 8-12): Use Hawkins Lab as a gateway to discuss government experiments and surveillance, because teenagers need fictional monsters to care about real-world authoritarianism
Friendship psychology under extreme stress (Grades 6-12): Analyze how the characters' relationships evolve through trauma, perfect for social-emotional learning without the cheesy worksheets
Scientific method through supernatural investigation (Grades 7-12): Students create research protocols for studying interdimensional phenomena, making hypothesis formation actually exciting
1980s cultural deep dive (Grades 6-12): Explore how the decade's music, fashion, and technology shaped character development, because historical context hits different when it involves Demogorgons
Creative writing with genre blending (Grades 10-12): Students craft their own small-town supernatural mysteries, combining horror, sci-fi, and coming-of-age elements like tiny Stephen Kings
Media literacy through monster metaphors (Grades 8-12): Decode how the show uses supernatural threats to represent real teenage anxieties about growing up, fitting in, and facing the unknown
Ethics in scientific research (Grades 10-12): Debate the moral implications of Hawkins Lab experiments, making bioethics discussions way more engaging than your typical trolley problem scenarios
“The expert is the student.”: Superintendent Antonio Shelton, Ed.D., of Santa Monica–Malibu USD reminded us of that truth during our recent visit to Santa Monica High School. His mission is simple and profound: build belonging, nurture real relationships, and deliver the best public-school experience possible. Hearing how Subject is helping advance that mission was incredibly meaningful. Huge thank you to Superintendent Shelton and the entire SMMUSD community for trusting us with your students’ learning journey. Link for more.
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Thank you for joining us for another edition of On The Subject. We’ll see you again in a week, with more stories from the hallways.
The Subject Team
Want to learn more about our curriculum offerings? Contact us today.
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