The only things that may indicate John Wright is anything more than your average middle school science teacher are the intense passion and intelligence in his eyes and his well-worn boots. He’s a man whose deep baritone voice lowers as his interest increases, as if he is grappling to rein in his expansive intellect.
At the elite school where he teaches, in a well-heeled suburb of New Orleans, most of the students and faculty don’t know Wright is the man who built the 1,000-mile traverse route from McMurdo Station to the South Pole. “I can always find an adventure somewhere,” says Wright, who now spends his days trying to “infuse young minds with some passion for exploration.”