Welcome to the distinguished Chancellor’s Award Night,” Principal Hayes begins. “I want to thank you all for attending tonight. We are so proud and honored to be one of the highest-scoring schools in our district, especially since we don’t pride ourselves on the test. In fact, we think of testing as secondary to the hard work we do on community building and strengthening our ties to the world around us.”

Here we are—me, Jasmine, Nadine, and Isaac—sitting in the last row of the auditorium next to some of the girls from our Write Like a Girl gatherings at Word Up. And to the right of us is the entire girls varsity basketball team from our school, and on the left side of us is the team from George Washington High, which is just down the street. Mia rallied her team, and they put the word out to other teams in the league. They’re all wearing versions of our shirts. They came to make some noise.

But we are all sitting quietly . . . for now.

Principal Hayes acknowledges some of the teachers who are being awarded with Outstanding Educator awards, and I have to admit, I love these teachers. Especially Ms. Lucas and Mrs. Curtis. They truly go above and beyond, and I feel like they understand us students. But then Principal Hayes says, “We are a school that is committed to our neighborhood, and to making sure that our voices, that all voices, are heard and truly listened to.”

“This is such crap,” I whisper to Jasmine, who is sitting so calmly beside me. I look to both sides and see the teams handing out poster boards to each other. Mia looks in my direction and winks. She knows this is a massive deal, and she also knows that it could get us into deep trouble. She’s doing it anyway.

Principal Hayes continues, “Amsterdam Heights Collaborative Community School is just that. We work together. We rally. We trust our students to come to us with their concerns, fears, and ideas for the future. We trust their voices. We create activities and clubs that support what they want to do—with clubs like Step Up STEAM for our technology-and-arts-focused young people, and Dance for Your Dreams, which combines movement and site-specific performances. We care about our young people and value their opinions and ideas. This is why all of us are so proud to receive this award tonight. We know that you don’t have to teach to the test, and you can teach to the whole student. That’s what we do here. That’s who we are.”

I look at both sides one more time. Everyone is holding a sign in front of them, ready for my move. I make sure that our row has signs and make eye contact with everyone. Our plan is to begin right after Principal Hayes introduces the chancellor. The auditorium is packed—there are families and teachers and most of the students are here too. James is sitting in the front with his mom, who waved at me when she saw me. James just sat there looking straight ahead.

Principal Hayes continues, “And now, to celebrate this success, it is an honor to introduce Chancellor Carmen Freeman to you all this evening.” He steps away from the podium.

The crowd begins to applaud, and I stand up right away. The basketball teams are on the edge of their seats. Jasmine puts her hand on my back and presses me gently forward. Just when the chancellor gets to the microphone, I shout, as loud as I can, “I resolve to fight for Write Like a Girl, our womanist/feminist club that was wrongly shut down at this school that claims to value all voices. I resolve to show up like a girl.” I hold up the sign that Isaac helped us to make, which reads Write Like a Girl—Bring Us Back in bold neon letters.

“I resolve to fight like a girl. I resolve to race like a girl. I resolve to run sprints like a girl,” Mia says, standing up right after me. I smile in her direction.

“I resolve to show up like a girl, not stop like a girl, win like a girl,” Nadine says right after.

“I resolve to blog like a girl, be controversial like a girl, write what’s on my mind and the mind of my community like a girl,” Jasmine says.

The chancellor is standing on the stage with her mouth wide open. Principal Hayes is standing now too, at the microphone telling us to sit down, but it’s too late for him to stop us.

“I resolve to show up like a girl every day until you decide to hear me.”

“I resolve to stand up to sexism like a girl.”

“I resolve to shut down systems of oppression like a girl.”

“I resolve to dismantle patriarchy like a girl.”

“I resolve to be unstoppable and relentless like a girl.”

The voices go on, getting louder and stronger every time Principal Hayes tries to quiet our voices. The whole auditorium is watching us, with some people shouting and cheering when we make a statement, and some having conversations on their own about what this is about. I can’t tell if it’s working, or if we’ve made a huge mistake, but I get my answer when Ms. Sanchez, the security guard, comes up behind me and begins to escort us out. She is gentle with me, and I know it’s because she doesn’t really want to do it.

As we are all being ushered out, I try one more time, and shout, “You cannot stop our voices.” But even as I’m saying it, I’m not quite sure.