Olivia Hawkins & Dylan Polk

If you have shadowed this year, you have more than likely met our newest Faces of RB, Olivia and Dylan ’18. Olivia and Dylan are office aides in the Admissions Office and are two of the first faces all of our students see in the morning as they greet guests. Olivia has enjoyed the first quarter: “Helping out in the Admissions Office has been a lot of fun. I enjoy meeting all the new families and showing them our great school.” Dylan agreed with Olivia: “I don’t mind getting up early and greeting people. I have learned information about the school that I would not have known, so it has been eye-opening and a lot of fun working in Admissions -- even if Mr. Cowans scared me on Halloween.” Mr. Cowans, although he may be a jokester at times, is quite serious when addressing how great of an addition to the Admissions Office these two have been: “Dylan and Olivia are quintessential Spartans – dedicated, welcoming, and hard-working. They have been tremendous helps during the busy recruitment and shadow season. After touring campus and talking with prospective parents, the most common word used to describe them is ‘impressive’ I couldn’t agree more.”

Olivia is a Senior Leader, volleyball player, member of RB180 and Honor Roll student. Her father is an RB alum, her mother is an OLA alum, and she is the youngest of four siblings that graduated Roger Bacon High School. “When I first started thinking about high school, I was leaning towards an all-girl school mainly because I wanted to be different from everyone in my family. However, after I shadowed at Roger Bacon, I didn’t even want to shadow at other schools. Everyone was so welcoming, and with such a long history in my family, it just felt right.”

As a member of the Girls volleyball program, Olivia was voted captain by her teammates this season and was presented with the obstacle of changing positions as a senior. Olivia said, “At first I didn’t want to move to the middle. But once I realized I had to do it for my team, I found that I really enjoyed the position and was more comfortable as a middle than anywhere else on the court.” In this new position, Olivia exceled. She had her best season yet, and according to Coach Flading, “Olivia was definitely presented with a challenge at the beginning of the year – learning a completely new position. I was so happy with her performance over the course of this season and she was recognized for all her hard work. She was named 2^nd Team All-League and 2^nd Team All-City, which is a great accomplishment for anyone, let alone someone who had to learn how to do something completely different. As proud of her for her play on the court, I can say I am more proud of her as a young lady and leader. She really stepped into the role of captain this season and I think taught the younger girls a lot about facing a challenge with grace."

Dylan did not have legacy at Roger Bacon and started his own path. Like Olivia, he is also a Senior Leader and involved in RB180. As a football and baseball player, Dylan has been able to flourish in our environment. Dylan reflects, “Coming from a small school (St. Gabriel Consolidated) to a small school just seemed like the right transition for me. It was easy to adapt, and if I had gone to a bigger school, I don’t think I would have thrived as much. On the day of my shadow visit, I just knew – everyone here was so nice and it felt like they all already knew me.”

As an eighth grader, Dylan did not imagine that he would be playing football in high school, let alone, be looking at colleges and universities deciding where to accept an athletic scholarship for football. “I didn’t play football freshman or sophomore year and finally decided to play as a junior. I realized I might as well give it a shot and didn’t want to regret not trying to play football in high school. I am currently looking at different schools, but plan on playing football in college and studying Mechanical Engineering. I have been blessed with this size and athleticism, so I want to be sure I use it to its fullest potential.” Mrs. Romolo thinks that Dylan is a perfect example of a Spartan: “Dylan is such a great ‘Face of RB.’ He is the example of how I hope all our students feel about their time at Roger Bacon. He works hard in the classroom and on the field, but he also has a smile on his face and is having a great time. His easy laughter can help brighten the days of others. He manages to keep a light and positive attitude and have fun, even while taking on more and more responsibility. As a Senior Leader and JOY Retreat leader, he has also embraced the importance of faith and giving back to his community.”

Mr. McDaniel recognizes that both Olivia and Dylan are outstanding representatives of the core values taught at Roger Bacon High School: “Dylan and Olivia are both supportive and thoughtful students; they have learned that hard work and self-discipline pay off and are necessary for happiness. We are lucky to see both of them achieving great things with bright smiles on their faces."

Roger Bacon is made up of many faces, different faces. We hope to showcase a wide range of our Spartans as possible. If you would like to nominate a Spartan, past or present, to be featured as a Face of RB please click here