For 28 years, Spanish teacher Norberto Villa has watched Columbus School grow and change, becoming one of the people who know the school and its community best.

 When asked what his absence would mean for Columbus, Norberto did not focus on what the school would lose. Instead, he saw his departure as a chance for change. “The possibility of renewal, of new blood, new people coming to share with the students,” he said.

His years at Columbus have also given him important personal memories. Among the most meaningful were moments involving his own children and their experiences at the school.

“The two graduations of my children were very special, when each of them graduated, in 2018 and 2024,” Norberto said.

Those family memories are only part of the connection Norberto has developed with Columbus over the years. When describing the school, he focuses on the happiness and growth it has given him.

“A space of immense growth and deep happiness, to the point that I feel that the 28 years passed in just a moment,” Norberto said.

Norberto describes what Columbus has meant to him, while Mauricio Sepulveda has seen that connection through their friendship and his interactions with others. Mauricio remembers one moment that showed him Norberto’s generosity.

“I remember that Norberto once invited me to a Nacional game,” Mauricio said. “That week was my birthday, so I thought he had given it to me as a present. Norberto didn’t even know it was my birthday; he just wanted to invite me because of our friendship.”

Mauricio’s story about their friendship shows the kind of person Norberto is outside the classroom, but his impact reaches beyond individual friendships. Mauricio believes the school would lose something important without him.

“We will lose the happiness. Norberto is and will be the happiness of Columbus. He is one of the pieces of furniture of Columbus School,” Mauricio said.

For Mauricio, that happiness is connected to the people and environment that have kept Norberto at Columbus for nearly three decades.

“What motivated Norberto to stay at the school for so many years was the Columbus environment, the students, and everything around him that made him feel special,” Mauricio said.

 Norberto’s decades at TCS prove he is far more than a teacher; he is an essential part of its community, whose legacy will continue to inspire students and staff.