After spending nearly his entire life as involved with Centennial–12 as a student and 35 as an educator, Mark Porterfield, 61, is leaving on July 1, 2018.

He has been an assistant principal for 20 years, and was a teacher for 15 years prior to that.  He has also been the activities director and coached football, wrestling and track at various times in his career.

He says he stayed at Centennial for so long because of the community, great staff and great students.

Porterfield said the school is headed in a positive direction. “CHS offers great opportunities for students if they take advantage of them. We have the most dedicated staff in the state.  They truly care about our students.”

Porterfield has more than one favorite memory from Centennial. He just loved the great staff he’s been associated with and all the outstanding students over the years.

Porterfield has many hobbies and activities that he wants to pursue after he retires. He wants to travel, hike, enjoy the outdoors, start working out, gardening, and enjoy his property which is in Sandy.  Porterfield’s wife, Kathy, was also a long-time Centennial district teacher.  She retired a couple of years ago but has continued to work part time for various districts including West Linn, Concordia and Oregon Trail.

Shelley Johnson is sad to see Porterfield leave. “I love Mr. Porterfield. I’ve known him since he was the coach of my daughter’s T-ball team. He is the kindest, good hearted person I know,” she said.

Dean of Students Greg Melvin echoed Johnson’s thoughts.  “I’ll miss him a ton. We have connected offices and have worked together on some of the craziest stuff,” he said.