Wellesley POPS Senior Profile: The spotlight shines on Brooke Simko

Special to The Swellesley Report courtesy of the Wellesley High School Bradford and Parents of Performing Students (POPS). This is one in a series of POPS Senior Profiles we’ll be publishing.

While Brooke Simko ’25 had been involved with the performing arts, dance, and theater throughout her tenure as a student at the Meadowbrook and later the Middlesex School, it wasn’t until her junior year that she arrived on the high school’s extracurricular theater scene.

“Transferring to Wellesley High School at the beginning of junior year meant a tragically late start to my involvement in Wellesley High School arts,” said Simko.

Before transferring to the high school, Simko danced on the varsity team at the Middlesex School, where she was able to choreograph group pieces and contemporary solos. Additionally, she performed in conjunction with Wellesley Theatre Project. 

Although Simko started her participation in Wellesley High School’s Drama Society through her dual performances as Juror #3 in 12 Angry Jurors (2024) and William Dunn in Men on Boats (2024), she has since joined one of the audition-only a cappella groups at the high school: Ladies First A Cappella. 

Though her participation in the choral department is notable, Simko’s contribution in the drama department as student choreographer in Mean Girls (2024) and dance captain in Anything Goes (2025) has left an enduring impression. 

Addie Sanft ’26, Simko’s co-star in Men on Boats and Mean Girls and co-member of Ladies First, said, “She really will do anything to see other people be happy, and that is one of the most admirable traits she has. She brings so much energy and fun into the performing arts environment. She’s just radiating happiness everywhere that she goes and she always is making everyone smile.”

As a member of the performing arts community, Simko has participated both on stage and behind the scenes. She helped with costuming during The Insanity of Mary Girard (2024), the high school’s competition piece for the Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild, for which she won a state-level award. 

Her excellence in everything she puts her mind to is noted not only by her peers but by her instructors.

Mr. Skylar Grossman, director and acting teacher, said, “She brings a polished sense of self and she really is what we like to call a director’s actor, meaning someone that a director thoroughly enjoys working with because they’re able to bring in their own thoughts to the table but also keep an open mind for what the director providing.”

Simko supports others by staying after rehearsal to help with dances and lending a hand even when she isn’t specifically called. 

Despite her late start to the performing arts at the high school, she has participated in seven shows while also co-leading the Outdoors Club and making strides to become a metals intensive outside of performing arts. Whether it be on a stage or outside, Simko is readily available and shows commitment to each character she plays. She takes charge when needed and leads through admirable examples, demonstrating that the true heart of being an actor is having a passion for what one does. 

As a seasoned performer, Simko speaks with an earned confidence and easy humor. She can dance, sing, act, and lead all in the span of a single show, but her greatest trait is her ability to collaborate with others towards a common goal.

Eva Meraw ’25, Ladies First A Cappella Music Leader, co-starred with Simko in Small Mouth Sounds (2025). She shares how Brooke has made positive changes to the competitive nature of a performing arts environment.

“Brooke is absolutely a joy. She’s only been at the high school for two years, and in that time, she’s transformed the environment of acting, especially performing arts. It’s so inherently a competitive environment, and it has become less so because she is the person that she is. I enjoy being [in performing arts] so much more than I did,” said Meraw.

This past winter season Simko undertook the challenge of participating in a leadership role within the musical Anything Goes, as well as performing in this year’s competition piece, Small Mouth Sounds. 

“I knew going into senior fall that I was going to be busy out the wazoo, but I still auditioned for all I could, and I don’t regret it. There are highs and lows, but theater is such a dependable constant in my life—it keeps me level even when I’m swamped,” said Simko.

In the near future Simko hopes to major in environmental science while maintaining a healthy relationship with performing through minoring in dance or participating in an intramural dance team.

Article written by WHS Bradford Arts Editor Evie Simon ’27 and Staff Writer Kaya Charoensiddhi ’27