If you go to an event at Olivet High School in May you will see dozens of seniors walking around with colorful swimming goggles and floaties on. You might even see a few with water guns. This is because Senior Assassins is in full swing.
Every spring, seniors at Olivet High School come together for a number of activities. One of them is called Senior Assassins.
Senior Assassins is a game that is played all over the country. At Olivet more than 40% of graduating seniors play every year. The version that Olivet’s seniors play lasts from May 1 to their second to last day of school (May 20).
In order to play, participants have to pay a $10 entry fee. All of the entry fees are placed into a pool that will be given to the winner of the game. This year, the prize pot had more than $400 in it. At the beginning of the game, each person is given a target. The goal of the game is to get your target out by spraying them with a water gun.
However, if your target is wearing goggles and floaties, they are safe. Once you “kill” your target you inherit their target and so on.
The game is run on an app called GroupMe. Some schools use an app called Senior Splashin’. But at Olivet, it is all done manually by seniors Brianna Faulkner and Molly Lincoln.
“I wanted to be able to create a fun activity that would be able to bring us seniors closer together before we graduate,” Faulkner said.
Faulkner and Lincoln organize the game, choose participants’ targets and add fun things to shake up the game. One of these things is a purge. During a purge players can get anyone out as long as they aren’t wearing floaties, not just their target.
Senior Lorelei Denniston said, “When I heard about the first purge I was scared; four different people came by my house to try to get me out.”
There are lots of rules put in place to make sure that players stay safe and do not overstep while playing. Some examples of these rules are you cannot shoot anyone on school property between the hours of 7 a.m. and 2:45 p.m., you cannot enter anyone’s house without permission from a pertinent resident, and you cannot shoot anyone at church, their open house or at a sporting event/practice.
At the time that this article is being written, there had been 15 kills in the game.
Participants dedicate a lot of time to making plans and attempting to get their targets out. Alliances form and betrayals occur.
Senior Salvador Garza was sprayed by his best friend, Bryce Vanderwal. In retaliation, Garza called Drew Garcia, who had Vanderwal as his target, to tell him where Vanderwal was. Garcia shot Vanderwal not long after. When asked how he felt about getting out, Garza said, “One word: betrayal”.
Senior Assassins is not in any way affiliated with Olivet High School or Olivet Community Schools. However, it is allowed by the OHS Principal Troy Waffle. Students cannot play on school grounds during school hours, but they can play in their school and the parking lot after school.
Many Olivet seniors do not have a full day of classes at the school, so players will go out to get people during the school day. As long as the game is played off of school property, anything is fair game.
In neighboring schools, games of Senior Assassins have gotten shut down for different reasons. Because of this, the Olivet seniors are careful to follow the rules of the game. They make an effort to remain respectful and not step over any lines during the game.
Each year, students look forward to playing Senior Assassins in the last month of their school year. The “final showdown” at the school the night before the last day of school is one of the final things that the OHS Class of 2025 will do together. The grand prize of $400 dollars is also a great motivator to make it to the final showdown.
To follow along with the action at Olivet High School, you can follow the Senior Assassins’ Instagram account at @olivetseniorassassin. Each kill video is posted on the Instagram account, along with failed kills, announcements and more.
