Senior prom has always been a staple of the American high school experience. It's not just a party, it's a celebration of everything that we've accomplished in the four most formative and influential years we've ever lived through. It's a way to slam the door and never look back, or to quietly turn the key and store away our memories for nostalgia's sake. When you've been out of school for a long while, prom is blurred and faded in memory. But to us, it's one of the most prominent events of our young lives. To have it suddenly snatched away, something we consider unthinkable for any school to do, is disappointing on the highest level. We would also consider it offensive if the administration believes that we are unable to raise the funds for this event. We can guarantee that is not the case, considering how important we view our senior prom to be.

We're willing to compromise. We're willing to work with you to find solutions to the difficulties you've been having. But canceling prom is cutting the knot in half without first trying to untangle it. It's giving up on a solution without first consulting your greatest intellectual and creative resource: us. According to Masconomet's very own mission statement, students are to "communicate effectively" and "participate in decision making." Safe to say this has been sorely overlooked. Every class comes together regularly to do incredible things, highlighted by successes like the freshman walk. We reject the idea that this is a situation we cannot overcome.

We, the classes of 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, and the parents of those classes, implore you, the Masconomet administration, to revoke the wildly drastic measures you have taken. Give us the chance to show you that your student body is capable of all the things you've told us we're capable of, and more. The lifeblood of Masco itself is protesting. Listen to it.