Show Notes

In this episode, I talk with Dr. Cris Slotoroff, a former high school English teacher and administrator who found himself at a crossroads. He was at the apex of his teaching career: tenured, writing curriculum for AP Lang, coaching a championship-winning team, and working in a district he loved. But despite this success, he was still "never going to be able to afford having a kid or a house".

Cris shares his journey from the classroom to his current role at The Juice Learning, a company that felt tailor-made for his background. We discuss the financial realities that push great teachers out, how his new role is still all about teaching, and the single biggest communication adjustment he had to make when leaving the captive audience of a classroom.

• What is The Juice? Cris explains The Juice Learning, an ad-free, non-partisan daily news platform for grades 5-12. It provides five new stories each day, rewritten at four different reading levels, to help students build the in-between knowledge (like civics and geography) they often miss.
• The "Apex" Problem: Cris gets candid about why he left a job he loved. It wasn't burnout; it was the financial reality of pay freezes and the "existential expectation for teachers, which is do more with less every single year".
• A Job That's Still Teaching: In his role, Cris teaches people how to teach with The Juice and teaches administrators how to lead with The Juice. He notes that "any great teacher looks at The Juice one time and it's like, 'Oh, yeah, I know what I'll do with this'".
• "Nobody Has to Listen to Me": Cris shares the biggest lesson he learned after transitioning. As a teacher, "you're not talking to a bunch of 17 year olds like, you know, be concise". He had to learn to shift from speaking to a "captive audience" to the more economical communication style of the private sector.
• Selling Hemingway to Children: Cris's background as an AP Lang teacher made him a natural salesman. He jokes, "I used to sell Hemingway to children with iPhones in their pockets. So, you know, I mean, I do have some experience with sales".

Episode Article

What do you do when you’re great at your job, you love your job, but your job just doesn't pay? This is the dilemma many educators face, and it's the exact position my guest, Dr. Cris Slotoroff, found himself in. As a former high school English teacher, Cris was at the apex of his career. He was tenured, taught AP Lang, wrote curriculum, coached a championship girls' soccer team, and, rare in any profession, he loved his bosses and his school. "I felt like I was on top," he said.

But that apex came with a harsh reality. "If this is the apex," he realized, "and I'm still never going to be able to afford having a kid or a house... ". Faced with yet another pay freeze and the existential expectation for teachers, which is do more with less every single year, he knew he had to engineer his exit, even though he loved teaching.

Cris eventually landed at The Juice Learning, a company that felt like it was designed for him. The Juice is a daily, ad-free news platform for students that provides current events articles at four different reading levels. As an AP Lang teacher who focused on nonfiction and rhetoric, Cris immediately saw its value. He calls it the "in-between knowledge"—the background on civics, geography, and current events that his own Ivy-bound students often lacked.

In his role, Cris is Pedagogy and Partnerships Manager, which is a fancy title for a job that is, at its heart, still teaching. "I'm teaching people how to teach with The Juice and teaches administrators how to lead with The Juice," he explains. He even manages a team of other former educators, helping them thrive. He jokes about his sales experience, "I used to sell Hemingway to children with iPhones in their pockets. So, you know, I do have some experience with sales".

When I asked for his biggest piece of advice for teachers considering a move, his answer was surprising. "Nobody has to listen to me talk," he said. He explained that as a teacher, you have a captive audience, and "your old job teaching necessitated lots of humans listening to you speak, your new job doesn't". He had to learn to be concise and realize he was no longer "talking to a bunch of 17 year olds". It’s a critical, practical insight from someone who successfully navigated the transition while keeping his passion for education fully intact.