Bak Middle School offers students opportunities to nurture their passions at a young age. This allows students to gain experience in areas to apply throughout their three years at Bak, and hopefully, beyond. 

There are former students who, when they graduated, rose to the occasion, surpassed boundaries and impacted the world with their unique spark— one of them being Dylan Lyons. 

Lyons was a communications major at Bak from 2009 to 2012, and he continued to cultivate his knowledge in the art throughout his life. His interests led to him enrolling at the University of Central Florida, where he studied journalism and political science.

“Dylan was a very nice, polite student who always worked hard and tried his best,” Matthew Sallas, Lyons’ former science teacher at Bak, said. “The aspect of him I remember the most was how kind he was to everyone.”

After finishing his education, Lyons took on the job of being a field reporter for Spectrum 13 News, a television broadcast company based in Orlando, Florida. On Feb. 23, Lyons was killed whilst he was out covering a story for his job.

“He loved the community, telling the stories of people, reporting on the news and he was just passionate about what he did,” Josh Miller, a co-worker with Lyons, said in an interview with Spectrum 13 News.

For people such as Kenan Scott, a former classmate of Lyons, rejogging his memory of him during his time at Bak brought back nostalgic feelings, emotions varying from rejoice to sorrow. Above all, Scott felt appreciation for getting the chance to know Lyons at a more personal level.

“I had communications and academic classes with Dylan,” Scott said. “Even in sixth grade when I didn’t know him well, I could always see that he was a very positive, funny, outgoing guy. We would constantly push each other a little bit to be a bit better,”  Scott said.

Those who knew him recognized Lyons as having been dedicated and caring. He left a positive impression with those he interacted with and brightened the world through his exuberant personality.

“I believe he was an inspiration that hard work pays off, as he was completing his dream job,” Sallas said. “He will be missed.”