SEQUIM — He’ll need to learn to speak French, dress for oppressive heat and do without high-speed Internet access of any kind.
But Roger McGee, 50, a sixth-grade science teacher at Sequim Middle School, is looking forward to his upcoming stint in a classroom in West Africa.
And to those who think Sequim is a funny name, try Ouagadougou — that’s the name of the international school in Burkina Faso where McGee will spend the next two years teaching math, science and social studies.
“I see it as a time when most people are so afraid of the world,” McGee said. “While they are stepping back, I’m stepping out.”
For McGee, that means trading a comfortable job in familiar surroundings for an adventurous trek to an impoverished Third World nation of 12 million people crammed into a land mass about the size of Colorado.
McGee will be taking a two-year leave of absence from the Sequim School District, where he has taught for the past eight years.
He said he has established roots in Sequim both inside and outside of the classroom.
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The rest of the story appears in the Monday Peninsula Daily News. Click on SUBSCRIBE to get the PDN delivered to your home or office.