Rafael Cortada was born in the Bronx, New York. His two older sisters are twins, who today are a nurse and a teacher. Rafael's parents were both educators and Rafael's father has been president of numerous colleges in the US, making for plenty of moves for the family. Rafael has lived in Brooklyn and Yonkers, NY, Wash. D.C., Baltimore, MD, Minnesota, Ohio, and Redondo Beach, CA. No matter the location, Rafael has always played sports. He has been on award winning teams and teams that were completely awful. He says it didn't really matter, he always tried to make the best and most of every situation. His favorite sports were football, rugby and cross country. As for academics, he favored history and psychology. He attended both private and public schools, and again, just made the best of wherever he was. After graduating high school in CA, he attended Loyola Marymount University for four years, majoring in Psychology. After learning to play the drums in middle school, Rafael had become quite good and played in several bands. When he graduated college, he was ready and serious about becoming a real- life rock star. Life happened and he instead went on to graduate school at the Univ. of District Columbia. He graduated with a Master's degree in Clinical Psychology. Rafael did work as a drug and alcohol counselor during his graduate school years. After graduating, he began work for U.S. Courts as a Pre-Trial Services Officer in Virginia. During this time he also married and had both a son and daughter. Work was always important to Rafael, as he wanted to make his life count in helping others, just as both his parents had modeled for him. The next job opportunity was working for the Maryland Dept. of Corrections then Fredrick County Sheriff's Office. There was a big move to the Pacific Northwest in 1996. He took a job with the U.S. Courts in Oregon as a Pre-Trial Services Officer. In 1999 he worked in the Multnomah County's Sheriff's Office as a deputy. As a deputy, different assignments have included Canine Deputy, Transit Police, Search and Rescue, Green Hornet Trail Rescue Team and Rapid Response Team. In 2014 he was informed of a position at the Corbett School District as a Resource Officer. He was immediately interested and applied. He wears "many hats" in the position and enjoys being a resource for many of the kids, teachers, staff, parents and community. In his free time he loves to be with his dog and be in the outdoors, possibly running yet another marathon!
