Greg Goddard, social studies teacher, IB coordinator and boys’ golf team coach will pack his bags and clubs and move to Ghana.

Goddard and his wife Sally, an English teacher at Park Spanish Immersion, have both signed three-year contracts with an American school in Accra, Ghana called The Lincoln Community School. Goddard will work half-time as the school’s IB coordinator and half-time as assistant principal while Sally will work with sixth graders through seniors as academic support.

In 1999, before the Goddards had any children, Sally and Greg spent three years teaching in a similar American school in Tunisia. Just like the last trip, he said they hope they’ll return to Park with a renewed vigor and retooled approach for education.

“When we came back from Tunisia we brought back a sense of global-mindedness, and best practices from a very different teaching setting,” Greg Goddard said. “We’re not doing this because we dislike our jobs here, quite the contrary; we love our jobs. We’re excited to bring back these skills to Park.”

Senior AP psychology student Crista Ocampo said she believes Goddard’s departure will be a bittersweet one.

“I really like the classroom vibe he creates. It’s going to be hard to see him go but hopefully it’s for the best,” Ocampo said.

The Goddards have wanted to go abroad for a while now, but only during the past year were formal plans arranged.

“We’ve been talking about this for five or six years. We just could never get the stars to align until now,” Greg Goddard said.

Greg said he believes the move to Africa will be a bit of a culture shock for his two children, but they’re looking forward to it.

Owen plays hockey, and there’s not a lot of ice in Ghana,” Goddard said. “They’re coming at it now at a point of positivity. They’re sad to say goodbye to their friends and some of the amenities they’ve become accustomed to.”

Boys’ golf team member junior Luke Cichoski said team members are sad to see their coach leave.

“The whole team is sad to see him go,” Cichoski said. “Everyone feels a deep connection with him. He’s definitely a role model to us.”