As the remaining days of the school year dwindle down, the graduating class continues to experience the many perks that come with being a senior. From senior skip days to class day, the senior picnic and finally graduation, there lies another unique activity. Assassins, a high stakes water gun game, began at midnight on Sunday after the return from spring break. A large quantity of the senior class will be playing their way through the game in hopes of winning a cash prize and bragging rights.

Seniors Jack Fiorella and Jay Patel have taken up the role of “godfathers” for the game this year. Organizing the target system, refereeing the game and responding to the complaints made to the rules committee are among their responsibilities.

“Jay and I realized no one had taken on running the game,” Fiorella said. “So we decided we may as well do it. We received a lot of the rules from the “godfathers,” Justin Hicklin and Brendan Kelemen, from last year. They’ve been a big help in organizing this.”

With about 150 seniors taking part in the game, Fiorella and Patel are making safety a priority. A set of mandatory guidelines are put in place to ensure players’ safety and no negative repercussions.

“There have been multiple police reports in the past of shady teenagers walking around with guns,” Patel said. “So, don’t do anything that would cause the police to get involved or elicit attention from the police.”

Students who take part in the tradition of playing have done whatever it takes to get ahead and win the game. While the game has never become overly out-of-hand in the past, Fiorella and Patel are fearful of the possibility that players might take it too far.

“Don’t mess with anyone while they’re driving if possible,” Fiorella said. “Have fun while playing, but also try to use some common sense.”

This year the game is starting a little earlier, but the “godfathers” have made no other changes to the game. The rules continue to restrict players from being targetted at work or school along with other sets of restrictions that could lead to disqualification.

“Don’t do anything illegal for obvious reasons,” Patel said. “And shooting people at work is prohibited so no one gets fired. Also it’s not allowed at school or any school-sponsored activities because assassins is not a school-sponsored activity.”

Principal Scott Roberts said as long as students keep the game away from school and school-sanctioned activities, the district will not get involved. Since assassins is not a school-sponsored event, Roberts and the Blue Valley School District think it is best to let students decide what guidelines should be followed unless it gets out of control.

“It’s a student run activity,” Roberts said. “The school has no intentions of involving ourselves and in the past the students have done a good job at notifying the players to keep the school uninvolved and uninterrupted.”

Roberts said the district is rarely alerted about issues in the game or asked to intervene. Students want to keep the school out of the game just as much as the school wants to be excluded.

“We have not had to intervene in the past,” Roberts said. “There have been times when the game has been shut down, but that’s because the game organizers have shut the game down, but we have never shut it down. We would only get involved if it disrupts school and disrupts the orderly process here at school. If that’s the case, students could face consequences. Besides that, we choose to not get involved because it’s not a school-sponsored activity.”

While the “godfathers” want all to recognize the importance of following the rules, they want students to remember that assassins is nothing more than a game and supposed to be fun.

“Assassins really comes down to the honor code,” Patel said. “So if you cheat, you’re ruining it for everyone else. Sure, the reward is a money prize, but it isn’t worth losing friends over it.”

Fiorella and Patel look forward to   controlling the game and hope that participants use the game as a fun way to end senior year.

“Our final advice: trust no one,” Fiorella said.