Then he added, “Thank you for making these years what we will soon call the good old days.”
As his classmates retrieved the thank you notes he’d taped under their seats on June 7, many of them became emotional.
“I was speechless — the letter brought tears to my eyes instantly,” said Emily Bodwell, 17, who has known Macuch since she was 4. They grew up together in Lakeville, Mass., about 40 miles south of Boston.
Macuch’s handwritten note to Bodwell thanked her for “always laughing” with him, and he recalled a game they played together sliding down the stairs when they were 5.
“I will cherish all our memories together especially when we played boom-boom,” he wrote. “Your kindness will take you so far in this world.”
Bodwell said she was stunned that Macuch took the time to write to each graduate individually.
“There aren’t enough positive words to describe the impact Mason and his letters made on our senior year,” she said. “Every member of our class felt appreciated, honored and cared for.”
Macuch’s best friend, Conor Tripp, 18, said he was also surprised to reach under his chair and find a letter from his longtime pal.
“I had no idea he was doing this, and I was really caught off guard,” he said. “But if someone would take the time to write 180 personal letters, it is Mason Macuch.”
Reagan Flynn, 18, said Macuch’s send-off is something she will hold onto.
“Everyone I talked to was very grateful for their personalized letter,” she said.
Macuch said he spent about 10 hours writing the notes several days before the ceremony once he’d received permission from the school administration to surprise his classmates. He wrote a message in Spanish to a student who doesn’t speak English, he said, and he also wrote thank you notes to the school staff.
“It was a monumental task for Mason to write individual cards to everyone, but he’s a role model and a really kind person to every student,” said Principal Kahlan Dessert. “I’d have to say I’m not surprised at all that he decided to do this.”
Macuch is the youngest of six children, and he said his mom, Janet Macuch, taught him and his siblings the importance of writing thank you notes.
“A note or a letter is a simple thing, but it has so much meaning,” he said. “My hope is that the notes will bring back happy memories to my classmates when they look at them years from now.”
Macuch said he initially thought of thanking everyone in his speech, but he knew there wouldn’t be time to mention them all. “So I got the idea that I could give them each a personal note,” he said.
Because the graduates were assigned seats at the ceremony on the school’s football field, he taped the notes under the chairs one hour before everyone arrived, with help from a teacher and an assistant principal. WCVB Boston covered the event.
“There were a few last-minute seat swaps on the seating chart, but I managed to switch out the notes,” Macuch said, adding that he wrote the sentiments over several days between classes, school events, and his two part-time jobs bussing tables and delivering restaurant orders in Lakeville.
Macuch said he knows 95 percent of his classmates, so it wasn’t difficult to think of something different to write to each one.
“For those I don’t know as well, I tried to think of something from over the years that I’d noticed about them, or I wrote a nice farewell message,” he said.
Bella Gagnier, 18, said Macuch told her he was proud of the hard work she’d put in toward her goal of becoming a nurse.
“He will truly do anything to make everyone smile,” she said.
Graduation speaker Morgan Hayward was one of the few people who knew about Macuch’s plan because they’d rehearsed their speeches together.
“When I learned about his idea, I cannot say that I was shocked,” said Hayward, 18. “He was doing this because he truly cared about his classmates and wanted us to know we are important to him, each in our own way.”
Macuch said he hopes to keep in touch with as many classmates as possible as they move forward with their lives.
This fall, he said, he’ll study biochemistry at Connecticut’s Fairfield University, with a goal of going to medical school and becoming a heart surgeon.
Flynn said that seems like an appropriate career choice for Apponequet’s bighearted senior class president.
“I know this is the end of our high school years, but this will not be the end of our friendship,” she said. “Everyone should be so lucky to have a friend like Mason in their lives.”
