Community Copes with Loss of Broadneck Student

Since late Thursday afternoon, the Facebook pages of students have been filled with words of sorrow and disbelief after the death of classmate Olivia Constants.

Olivia, daughter of Steve and Dorothy Constants of Annapolis and sister to Chloe, .

Olivia touched the lives of many in the county. She played for the Freestate Fire soccer team and for the Davidsonville Gators. Her family lived in Mayo before they moved to Annapolis. Her former teammates and their families are terribly saddened by the news.

"The girls from the Freestate Fire are dedicating the tournament they are playing in this weekend to Olivia," said Ann Brennan, a friend of the Constants family and Patch columnist. "They are dealing with the loss in the only way they know how."

As are many others. 

Meghan Lang, a friend and classmate, said, "Olivia was really, really funny. She could always make anyone laugh. She could always make someone smile. She was never sad or mean."

Julia Rey, a freshman at Broadneck High this year, remembers saying hello to Olivia in the school hallways.

“My newsfeed [on Facebook] was flooded with this," said Julia, who like many other local teens, stayed up most of the night talking about it with friends.

Anne Arundel County Public Schools spokesman Bob Mosier said though the office is closed today, counselors in high schools do work during the summer and will be available to help students on Monday as they cope to find meaning in the loss.

"If the students need to talk or the parents want advice on how to handle the situation, we encourage them to talk to the counselors at Broadneck," Mosier said. "Any time there is a situation like this that occurs it is a tragedy. We will do everything we can to support the family, students and staff at the school."