Brett Mulvey and Stephen Simoes, two adored history teachers, have been working together at Hopkinton High School for over thirty years. During this time they have cultivated a close friendship filled with traditions, support, and memories. Together they have made the HHS community a better place to be.

They first met back in the old high school building when Mulvey began his career at Hopkinton. The former department head introduced him to Simoes as she suspected they shared a lot in common with each other.

“School was about to start and she asked, ‘have you met Steve yet?’ I hadn’t so she walked me down to introduce us. As we were walking, she said that she thinks we will have a lot in common. We started talking and that was that. My first impression was that he had to be a good person because he liked the Yankees,” Mulvey recalls.

Simoes says that his first impression of Mulvey was that “he was short”, among other things.

Since their first interaction, traditions such as walking around the school in the mornings and having afternoon lunches formed a routine and continue to transpire today.

“I walk around partially for the exercise and he walks around because he is a very social person. It is a good way to start the day when you spend all day in class.” Simoes said.

“Some people jokingly make fun of us and call it our ‘mall walk’ like how old people walk around malls early in the morning. So that’s a good thing, we are insulted as the two old mall walkers.” Mulvey jokes.

Nearly every day since they met many years ago, they have shared their lunches together.

“We do pretty much every day. There are some times when it doesn’t work out but I joke that I have probably, well definitely, had more lunches with him than I have with my wife over the thirty years.” Simoes said.

Bryan King, a biology teacher at HHS, taught alongside them since the beginning and watched their friendship form into what it is today.

“I met them when I first started here in 1994. I think I saw their relationship solidify when we all coached baseball and softball. They are two old school teachers that have stood the test of time” King said.

Collectively, both Mulvey and Simoes are known for their sense of humor around the school.

“Humor is needed as a teacher, and to survive anything in life you need humor. I think everybody essentially becomes friends with people who humor them. And I am hilarious” Simoes said.

“ I think humor is really important to teaching and Mr. Simoes makes me laugh all the time. I think in teaching, and definitely in life, if you implement it the right way it can be invaluable” Mulvey said.

During the last thirty years of their friendship, they have both taught and learned many things from each other such as dedication to work and how to make the best out of any situation.

“I think we reinforce things with each other, like dedication to your job. He hasn’t missed a day of school in over six years. I mean I haven’t missed a day of school since yesterday morning. Also, he is sarcastic. I learned sarcasm from him” Simoes said.

“I have learned a lot from Mr. Simoes. When we used to coach together he would always say to the girls to go out and make a memory. I learned you don’t have to always take everything so seriously. It’s a game, it’s class, it’s just a day of school. Have fun, but make a memory. I try to remind myself of that not just in my life but in my class too with interaction with students” Mulvey said.

Through having this long and secure friendship with each other, Mulvey and Simoes have also learned the value of friendship and how to be a good friend. From this, they share some important lessons they have learned as advice for others.

“Years ago, Mr. Simoes and I taught a class together. We combined two history classes because they couldn’t hire another teacher. I couldn’t have done that with any other teacher in the school because Mr. Simoes was the only one I could have trusted that much to let my guard down in teaching, or put my ego aside in teaching. So, if you can find someone with who you can let your guard down, then that is probably someone you could have as a good friend” Mulvey said.