Eight months after graduating from TCS, a former student passed away in a traffic accident. Today, a tree stands behind the soccer goal where he spent years as a goalkeeper, quietly marking the place where his school remembers him.

What began as a tradition for graduating classes eventually became connected to the way TCS remembers members of its community. Andrés Montoya, a member of the school administration, explained that around 2010, seniors began planting trees before graduation. “Around 2010, the seniors started a tradition of planting a tree before graduation,” Montoya said. Around 16 trees have been planted through the tradition, while about eight are specifically memorial trees for students who have passed away.

Many of those trees carry stories connected to the students they honor. Montoya remembered a student who lost his life in a traffic accident eight months after graduating. “He had been a goalkeeper his whole life, so the location was key to what he represented during his time at the school,” he said. The tree was planted behind the soccer goal, connecting the memorial to the student’s life at TCS.

But not every tree story has been documented. “There are many because there are even many trees that do not have a plaque,” Montoya said, explaining that some were planted years ago, when the people who knew their stories were still at the school.

For 11th-grade student Dulce María Ospina, the trees can also bring up questions. “Personally, I don’t know all of the stories behind the trees, but I think each student should know about those memorial trees because I think they’re really important,” she said.

Not all of the memorial trees at TCS have stories that are as well known. Dulce remembers wondering about Mariana’s tree after noticing it several years ago. The tree is planted in the hall in front of the library, but there is not much information about who it honors or why it was planted. More recently, she experienced the planting of Matias Richardson’s tree, located between the cafeteria and the high school building. Richardson was a beloved student who passed away during the first quarter of ninth grade. He was also a passionate basketball player. Dulce remembers the day of his tree planting clearly: “I remember that it was a very sad moment, their close friends were nostalgic and the whole generation was in silence, paying respect, sad and just in shock about the entire situation.”

For Dulce, the trees are more than part of the school landscape. She believes current students should know the stories behind them because “I think each student should know about those memorial trees because they all have a significant story behind it.”