Senior Assassins has been winding down at Walpole High, and the enthusiasm that was rampant in the first few weeks has simmered as well. With events like Film Festival, Prom, and even the Senior class’s last day of school on the horizon, assassins seems to be lower on the list of priorities. But then again, that might be because the number of seniors left in the competition has dwindled down to approximately 40. Even so, the game is not close to being over. With both the stakes and the odds of winning higher, the remaining participants need to watch their backs. Kills have continued to be both creative and controversial, with a lot of people standing out as players to watch.
Most seniors spend time looking over their his or her shoulder for someone who might appear with a water gun or bottle, but there are also time limitations. If one does not get their target out in a certain amount of time, he or she is out of the game. This happened to senior Cj Tempesta, who did a great job holding operations of underclassmen getting him to his car, but could not get his person in time. But Tempesta, despite getting out himself, aided senior Kellie Jo McCann in a manipulative kill that was made last Thursday on senior Kyle Donnelly. Donnelly texted Tempesta asking where his target was, and Tempesta complied with a location; however, when Donnelly arrived, McCann was the one waiting for him. “He tried to run but I got him pretty quickly,” said McCann. With the game so close to a finish, alliances are important and trusting people is risky.
Even though the hype of the game seems to have lowered, the lengths that seniors go to in order to make a kill are still just as intense. Senior Calvin Schoenthaler resorted to a ghillie suit to blend in to fellow senior Hannah Doelling’s bush in order to assassinate her before school started. And seniors are still being just as sneaky; senior Phil Chen made an assassination by waiting in a trunk to get senior Kristen Johnson out after drama club. Senior Christina Freiberger is another contender who is providing some competition, as she got both Nyk Chatzis and Mike Baryski out in a matter of five minutes. She was one who was flying under the radar in the inception of the competition, as she kept her targets a complete secret whereas others told their peers.
Persistence is another necessary quality of one participating in senior assassins because kills are not always that easy to make and can potentially require several tries. This was the case for senior Tyler Kickham, who had target senior Pete Burke. Burke was leaving work one day and spotted Kickham just in time to run back inside, barely missing water as it splashed on the wall beside him. But Kickham, undeterred, later used the common before-school tactic and got Burke on the way out of his house. Senior Dan Adorn also exhibited persistence, but his included waiting in mulch behind senior Meg Loring’s car for an hour and a half. Despite the long time, Adorn still managed to get his target out and remains in the competition.
“The games are really intense right now; because there’s not many people left, I have to stay on my toes and always be on the move,” said senior Justin Connolly. Connolly, who is known throughout the school because of his daily appearance on the morning news, decided to use this to his advantage. Faced with the task of assassinating senior Caroline Weldon, he decided to skip the morning news one morning to wait outside of her house. Another factor that helped him out was his relaxed method; “I wasn’t actively trying to get her for a week so she didn’t know when I was going to strike. And when I saw her step outside her door, it was too late.”
As the game continues on, seniors are still getting soaked on a daily basis and coming up with both creative and typical methods of assassination. The upcoming weeks will be the toughest for the players, as seniors will be more alert with the odds so much higher. With more than 100 people out of the competition, the remaining seniors will play up until graduation to determine the victors.
