While she is not a new face she is in a new position, Deena Currie is transitioning from her 20 years of teaching to take on a new role as a counselor.

Currie chose to come here to work at Centennial because it is a liberal, progressive community unlike the old setting she had in Kentucky.

Being here in Portland is also very helpful because of her sexual orientation. She said, in the south there was a lot of discrimination that would go towards people that had different sexual views, and that’s totally different here where there is a lot less discrimination.

Currie is married to her partner Misty and has three step daughters, the youngest one being almost 20.

Some of Currie’s hobbies include birding, traveling, photography, and playing fantasy football, where she has taken a new route to try to win this year by using analytics.

Another really cool fact about Currie is that she is a closet gamer. She loves playing RPG video games, although she hasn’t played for a while. She said, “I won’t allow myself to do it, because if I do it’s over! I’ll never get out of the house.”

That is something that makes Currie so relatable to the kids that she teaches, and really helps them to be able to connect with her.