More Than a Moderator

By Marc Corteguera

In 2025, Christina Insua, Omar Delgado & Andy Chacón attended the Cognia Non-Public Schools Leadership Conference in Alpharetta, GA. The summit brought together leaders from across the country to explore new strategies and emerging trends in education. (Photo Credit: @columbushs_miami)

For most students walking through the halls of Christopher Columbus High School, Christina Insua is known as an administrator. She’s the Dean of Faculty, helping to oversee and facilitate the day-to-day life of Christopher Columbus High School.

Students pass by her office to ask questions, and teachers work with her on school initiatives. She now helps make decisions that shape campus life from behind the scenes. But long before becoming an administrator, Insua helped build one of the school’s most influential student programs: Christopher Columbus News Network, or CCNN Live, the school’s award-winning broadcast journalism program. 

For years, Insua worked alongside Omar Delgado as a moderator for CCNN, helping guide student journalists through broadcasts, competitions, interviews and stories that would eventually earn recognition at both the state and national levels. 

Two years ago, she stepped away from the newsroom to move into administration, but according to her, journalism never really left her life.

“Journalism is my passion,” Insua said. “Journalism is what I studied in college, and I was lucky enough to combine my love for storytelling with my desire to teach.”

Even after leaving the studio, Insua said she still felt connected to the mission behind student journalism programs like CCNN and The Log, Columbus’s school newspaper.

“I believe that students should have a voice and choice in their school,” she said. “Being an administrator puts me in ‘the room where it happens,’ and I love bringing student ideas and questions to the table to promote student journalism.”

Over her time at the school, her role changed. But her influence didn’t. Even from outside the program, Insua still helps shape journalism at Columbus. 

“Christina Insua was probably one of the most pivotal people in turning CCNN Live into what it is today. Sometimes I'm the face, but the silent killer behind everything was her, helping the kids with their journalistic progress, and just silently being a cornerstone of the organization,” Delgado said. 

She continues giving advice on broadcast newsmagazine pieces, remains someone students and staff turn to for interviews and perspective, and, according to CCNN moderator Delgado, he still occasionally sends her student work to get her insight and feedback. 

“It really means the world to me to know that the students still trust me enough to come to me for feedback and advice,” Insua said.

Her support also reaches beyond students. While Delgado continues to lead CCNN, Joseph Busatto, the current moderator of The Log and the school’s literary magazine Forma Mentis,  stepped into the program during Insua’s transition into administration.

“Stepping into her role at CCNN, I knew I had big shoes to fill. But during that transition, she was an invaluable guide, and I am grateful. I still look to her for advice regularly,” Busatto said. 

That mentorship, according to Insua, never really stopped after leaving the newsroom. Even in administration, she still works closely with both publications and their advisers behind the scenes.

“As far as Mr. Busatto, I help him with questions regarding The Log and the Forma Mentis and have tried to help him transition effectively into a position that I held so close to my heart for so many years,” she said. “I like to be a liaison and a voice for them in the school administration.”

That passion for journalism dates back years before her administrative career. When Insua first joined CCNN, she said the program was far smaller than it is today.

“When I started in CCNN, it was just morning announcements in a small closet,” Insua said. “It has now been expanded to an amazing organization that motivates and inspires young journalists every day.”

Still, for Insua, the most meaningful part of journalism was never the awards.

“For me, it was more about the small moments,” she said. “Teaching students how to write, coming up with interesting questions for an interview source as we explore the story together.”

And years later, those same lessons continue to impact students across Columbus. 

“She would encourage me to get better at writing, and brought a kindness to her approach to teaching,” said junior Juan Pablo Pina. 

Insua believes journalism programs do more than just teach students how to report stories. They teach them how to think, lead, and make a difference.

“These programs do far more than teach writing or broadcasting,” she said. “They cultivate engaged leaders and public speakers with the soft skills needed for success.”

Today, while her title may read “Dean of Faculty,” many students and advisers still see her as something more: a mentor whose influence on journalism at Columbus never really left the newsroom.