The time has come. The time when all of the class of 2023 members watch their every move. No one is safe. Whether you’re walking from your front door to your car or at the grocery store, you never know who is watching. The 2023 Senior Assassin Game has officially begun (as of midnight, Monday, March 13)… This article entails the rules, reward, participants, current eliminations, top assassinations, and leading scandals of the game. Stay tuned, and watch your back…

Don’t forget to VOTE on who you think will win at the end of this article!

The Rules:

Every member who chooses to participate is assigned a specific target, or another senior participant. They must assassinate their target by hitting them with a water blaster and videoing it for proof in order to eliminate them from the game. Once someone eliminates their original target, they will inherit their target’s target. Each person has one week to eliminate their initial target and not be eliminated by their own assassin by the end of the week in order to move on to the next round. New targets are distributed to the remaining players at the start of each round, and the rounds continue until one player is remaining. Additionally, each participant must keep their snap chat location on at all times for everyone in the game as long as they are alive, no water blasters can resemble real weapons, no trespassing or use of physical force in pursuit of a target is permitted, and no assassinations can occur on CCSD property including anywhere school and at sports facilities.

The Reward:

Each of the members who were interested in playing Senior Assassin were required to venmo $5. The money will be split in half, 50% for the winner, and 50% to go towards another senior benefit. This year, the winner will receive $202 and bragging rights. The other $202 will possibly go towards a Roomba vacuum for the senior lounge! This is because people eat in the lounge all the time during lunch and classes then don’t clean up after themselves, causing a layer of food and popcorn kernels all over the floor, tables, and furniture. 

Participants: (82 seniors total)

Emily Byrne

Ellie Graham

Francesca Venturini

Tate Brown

Joe Dragich

Robin Adams

Elena Yu

Garrett Griffin

Kofi Ayiku

JB O’Neal

Grayson Gregg

Shane Hoffman

Michael Donoho

Luke Vasquez

Annie Cagle

Jack Houseal

Chase Roberts

Lily Hutson

Caleb Anderson

Lulu Massenet

Finlay Palmer

Karina Raykova

Andrew Moise

Turner Orvin

Nayna Ayaz

Ty Osmond

Emma Morrison

Harrison Biddle

Kristen McLeod

McRae Wallace

Cooper Mitchell

Will Siegling

Ransome Hudson

Ashleigh Smith

Sean Khamnei

Luke Morris

Oliver Biddle

Lizzie Murray

Li-Li Thornley 

AJ Silber

Avery Voelkel

Maya Thompson

Carter Griffin

Griffin Steigman

Mary Blake Hand

Sophia Taber

Jack Quinn

Maysen Ronchetto

Miles Garrigan

Laura Robertson

Henry Hughes

Ella Chapman

Chandler Grace Ghegan

Maria Cymbalyuk

Hadley Shaw

Alan Zhang

Madelyn Hall

Hammond Unger

Boris Pekar

Jack Graham

Baker Story

Dylan Geddis

Noah Boudolf

Kate Gieg

Andrew Nichols

Willa Jones

Alec Early

Noelle Andrews

Jacob Burke

Lily Phelps

Kennedy Mackie

Dakota Hasty

Ronan Kotz

Livia Carroll

Baze Duckworth

Jagger Smoak

Cat Clyburn

Christian Streck

Willa Wiley

Emily Pilla 

Ella Bragg

Still Alive: (18 remaining as of Thursday, March 23)

Baker Story

Carter Griffin

Chase Roberts

Dylan Geddis

Emma Morrison

Henry Hughes

Kate Gieg

Kennedy Mackie

Lily Hutson

Lily Phelps

Lizzie Murray

Luke Vasquez

Lulu Massenet

Madelyn Hall

Maysen Ronchetto

McRae Wallace

Noah Boudolf

Ty Osmond

Top Assassinations and Scandals So Far:

The very first assassination that occurred was by Joe Dragich the morning after the targets were assigned. Joe surprised Cooper Mitchell at 7:45am by hiding behind Cooper’s house and sprinting out to get him as he was loading his bags into his car. Luckily enough, Cooper’s Nest security camera caught the scene on video, which displays a sudden glitch because of how quickly the two took off once Joe charged at Cooper. However, I will never understand why Cooper didn’t just jump into his car when he spotted Joe instead of running down the street because his car door was wide open and would have created a fast and easy escape.

One of the top scandals was the assassination of JB O’Neal and the relentless attempts to eliminate him by Emma Morrison. Emma also was an early riser on the day after the targets were released, as she drove all the way to West Ashley to camp outside of JB’s house with the intention of getting him while he was getting in his car. However, JB recruited his entire family to be on the lookout for potential assassins, and surely enough, his mom spotted Emma hiding in the bushes. Unfortunately, Emma’s white sweatshirt revealed her identity, and although she claims to have fired at JB, cameraman Boris Pekar only managed to film trees and not the alleged assassination. Thankfully for Emma, Kristen McLeod betrayed her best friend JB by setting him up for an easy elimination.

An infamous tale and lesson learned was the attempted assassination of Emily Pilla by Carter Griffin. I suppose Emily did not inform her dad of the game and that there may be a fellow Magnet senior lingering around her house, because her dad chased Carter off of their property not knowing who it was. Some rumors say he was holding a baseball bat, others say he had an attack dog, but Emily disclosed that he happened to be coming home from walking their 1 year old Boykin Spaniel, River, and chased after Carter out of fear and protection of his family. What a great dad. I’m sure any of our dads would have had the same reaction if they saw a stranger lurking around the house with a water blaster! So for any Magnet seniors reading this, make sure you explain the game and potential property-lingerers ASAP!

Another notorious scandal was the failed assassination of Jack Houseal by Andrew Moise. These two are thicker than thieves, but literally. After their lacrosse practice, Andrew stole Jack’s keys and drove his car off of campus since assassinations cannot occur on CCSD property, forcing Jack to go out of the “safety zone” to drive home. Andrew thought this method was quite strategic but forgot about the no trespassing/theft rule, so his assassination did not count. This scandal caused a significant feud between the two boys and resulted in Jack’s forfeit of the game for his own safety. 

Going along with Jack and Andrew, there have been a number of best friend betrayals throughout the senior assassin series. Although each of the targets are randomly generated, several of them happened to be besties. 

For example, Karina Raykova betrayed her friend Robin Adams while hanging out at one of their houses together after school and surprising Robin with a spray to the face and profuse apologies. Robin was also in the middle of playing a very good song on her guitar, so I think that waiting 2 minutes for the elimination would have been better.

Alec Early also tricked Joe Dragich while on the way to a concert together by shooting him with water in the car, then generously supplying him with apologetic Hi-Chews afterwards. Lots of profanity was exchanged, and Joe eventually accepted his fate after insisting that it had to be a prank and the situation could not be real.

Laura Robertson also shot Ellie Graham at a casual friend hangout and dinner, and Ellie had no idea her enemy was sly friend Laura until she whipped out her water blaster in the middle of the restaurant. Laura said she feels awful but it had to be done. RIP.

Additionally, Chase Roberts shot his close friend, Boris Pekar, by coordinating a movie night. He told Boris that it would be a “safe space” with “not that many people,” as only Boris, Chase, Ransome Hudson, and Turner Orvin would be present. Little did Boris know, his assassin was among them. Boris claims that he suspected danger and was in 2 minutes of denial, and he gave in once Chase told him he would bake cookies. Surely enough, the trap worked and Chase said that “Boris acted like a baby” and slept in Chase’s bed afterwards because the assassination “ruined his night.” Chase says that even if Boris flaked on the plan, he would have gone to his house to get him.

This game has truly taught all of the players to trust absolutely no one. Your assassin might be the one you thought you trusted most until an unexpected and backstabbing assassination occurs before your eyes.

I also want to highlight my own assassination because although it was truly evil, it was my second attempt and had to be done with lots of patience, strategy, and good timing. My target was Will Siegling, and I originally waited outside of his house for an hour before school to fire at Will as he was getting into his car. Sadly, my plan backfired because I did not know that Will leaves his house at 8:20am everyday, even though it takes at least 20 minutes to get to school. It was 39 degrees so my hands were turning numb, I had a test at school, I was getting very cold and impatient, and if you know me, I hate being late even though it always happens. So, I thought it would be smart to knock on Will’s door to pretend to be a delivery driver, duck down to be out of view from the windows, and get him as he opened the door. However, my giant black coat was visible from the window and Will knew it was a body. I foolishly revealed my identity and sulked to school. But don’t worry! I got him in the dark movie theater parking lot after he finished watching the new Scream movie by jumping out from behind his car. I swear you would’ve thought he was actually getting murdered based on his scream. (I do feel very bad I’m sorry Will)

Instagram:

Follow amhs_seniorassassin2023 for all of the senior assassin updates!! Including videos of each assassination and the number of players remaining.

Mini Senior Assassin Gallery:

Gallery • 15 Photos

Alec Early's attempt to escape Avery Voelkel's vicious attack by leaping over the soccer field fence to claim safety on CCSD property (he did not make it.)

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