SOUTH DEERFIELD — Henry Mulvey, a senior at Frontier Regional School, sits in his wheelchair inside a small classroom. His arms and hands move awkwardly, but his eyes are alert, twinkling, and laughing.
“I know this interview was gonna be about disability and school,” a robotic, monotone voice suddenly emanates from a blue computer on the desk in front of him. Mulvey uses the computer to communicate. He also has an assistant, Bob Barron, who helps him get around.
Despite the digitalized tone, it’s not just any voice — it’s Henry’s voice, spoken by the computer.
“But I mean,” his hands hit the screen, fingers pressing into slots, “this is really my story as to who I am.”
He’s right: This story was going to be focused on Mulvey’s disability. It was going to be about a student who overcame severely physically debilitating mitochondrial disease, an energy-deficiency disease, and graduated from high school with a 3.98 grade point average. However, after two minutes in the room with Mulvey, it’s obvious there’s a whole lot more to him than just his physical impairment.
The story is really about a driven young man who, despite people telling him he couldn’t achieve his goals, has refused to give up on his childhood dream of bringing old-fashioned trolley systems back to America.
When talking about trolleys, Mulvey’s eyes light up.
“I’ve always liked old-time street cars and trolleys,” Mulvey says, “and I’ve always wanted to bring them back. I want to be a transportation planner.”
Mulvey can communicate vocally in a limited ability. His mom, Danielle Mulvey, who is sitting next to him, is accustomed to his speech pattern and is able to translate.
“The nearest street car to us is the Boston green line, but the MBTA has a lot of problems,” he continues, this time with his mom translating.
A few years ago, after sophomore year, Mulvey emailed a detailed trolley plan to the Boston redevelopment authority. He was invited to city hall to present his ideas in front of a panel of municipal officials.
“(They) said ‘If he’s for real, we’d like to meet him,’” Danielle Mulvey says. “He got the opportunity to present his ideas in Boston, to movers and shakers in the transportation world.”
From an in-depth history of street cars in Boston, to intricately mapped trolley routes, the plan, which took Mulvey about five years to create, is incredibly detailed.
Mulvey’s presentation has more than 50 slides, and even describes how to fund the project and how it could affect the tourism industry.
He isn’t alone in his love for street cars. Mulvey says that across the United States and especially Europe, trolleys are making a comeback.
“There’s a big renaissance in street car systems,” Danielle Mulvey interprets. “If you look it up, every city, even Greenfield and Conway, had a street car system.”
Next school year, Mulvey’s dream will lead him to UMass, where he intends to study urban planning and get involved in the UMass bus system. His passion for old-fashioned transportation systems stems from his love for old trolleys, and also a desire to make public transportation completely electric.
He’s interested in restoring old cars, and creating new, modern street cars. Eventually, he wants to move out on his own and live in either Boston or New Orleans.
“All his life he has known,” Danielle Mulvey says. “Everybody used to look at me like, this kid is nuts.”
“The child has done his research for I don’t know how many years,” Peggy Doyle, special education teacher and department chairwoman at the school, says later. “A remarkable young man. I have never — I’ve taught for 39 years — heard a student say ‘I want to be in urban planning’ in eighth grade.”
Mulvey graduated Friday night with the Frontier Regional High School class of 2016. He received five scholarships, and won two school awards — an academic social studies and community activism award for his presentation in Boston, and the Silver F award for academic achievement. He also took two AP classes at the school.
His impact on Frontier Regional will last long after he departs. From students to faculty to administrators, Mulvey affects everyone he encounters in one way or another.
“He’s a remarkable student who has to overcome so much before he even comes into the school each day,” Principal Darius Modestow says. “He has done a lot to open up the eyes of students to what (disabled students) can achieve.”
“He has never defined himself by his disability,” says Danielle Mulvey. “He has a spirit (that can’t be deflated). He’s gonna enjoy life and achieve what he wants. Other people see the disability, but Henry doesn’t even notice it.”
“I really admire him,” she adds, looking at her son. “I’m really proud that he has stuck to his dream.”