For the second year in a row, Senior Assassin season has come to Cascade High School. The beginning of the competition signals the start of months of seniors running around town adorned with water guns and swim gear. This year, it started right after Spring Break and is projected to last for at least another month.
“I had two kills in one day, double assassination," said Rhetta Cummings (12).
The way that Senior Assassin works is that any senior who wants to participate downloads an app called “Splashin” and signs into a collective group. It costs 5 dollars to join and, at the end of the game, the person who wins gets the collective pot of money. On the app there is group chat, a map where players can see their target, and a feed where players post videos of assassinations. Participants must post a video of their assassination on the app for it to count. If a player “kills” their assigned target, then the eliminated player’s old target is now theirs.
School, work, church, and sporting events are off limits for play; however, play is permitted while going to and from these events is fair game. If, however, a target is wearing visible swim gear, they are protected and can't be assassinated. The app also has a system where the administrator of the game, this year it is Angela Gunter (12), can drop revival packs anytime, anywhere. If a player is already out, then they just need to get within ten meters of the revival pack’s location and they will be back in the game. Each week is a new round, and at the beginning of each round everyone gets a new target. The last person standing wins.
Senior class Vice-President Angela Gunter took it upon herself to lead and organize the game. “For senior assassin I got an app. I found it on TikTok, but I got this app and basically, it's so much easier because it does everything for you. It assigns the targets, it changes rounds automatically, and when you kill someone, you can post it on there and it will eliminate that person and assign you a new person,” said Gunter.
2024 seniors have already been hard at work tracking down and eliminating their targets. Rhetta Cummings (12) has been particularly successful. “I had two kills in one day, double assassination. My first target was Isabel Menna (12), but she's a really good friend of mine, so I had to lie to her face. She was at Dan’s at the stoplight, and I was coming out of Dan’s, and I made her roll down her window and shot her. Julian Valdez (12) was two hours after that, and he didn't know that I was his assassin, so he took off his vest and I shot him.”
Participants must be vigilant wearing their swim gear to be safe from their assassins. “I've worn [my life vest] in typical Dan's, Walmart, Safeway, but I also go to an early morning seminary so every time I go in or out, I have to wear it,” explains Scott Lindsay (12). Students wear a variety of gear, ranging from goggles, life vests, floaties, and more. “I saw Rayen Blue (12) wearing a swim cap. That was really funny,” said Gunter. “[My favorite part so far has been] watching the elimination videos because they’re really funny.”