As the school year comes to an end, seniors are looking forward to prom, internships and graduation. However, others have been occupying their minds with only one thing: strategizing how to win Senior Showdown. 

Senior Showdown, formerly known as AP assassins, is a game played by seniors, where participants are assigned a person who is their target. They must shoot their target with a Nerf gun to “assassinate” them, while avoiding getting shot by the assassin assigned to them. The school grounds and locations of school sponsored events, such as senior internships, are ‘safe-zones’ for targets.

Natalia Maidique ’21 and Marley Lopez-Paul ’21 are this year’s co-coordinators for the game. It begins on Friday May 28 after all AP exams have been taken, as a way to celebrate the hard work that seniors have endured.  

In previous years, participants were required to take an AP class in order to play. This rule was removed last year and was supposed to be temporary. However, it was decided this year that the change would be made permanent. This is why the event coordinators felt ‘Senior Showdown’ would be a more fitting title. 

“Honestly, Marley and I thought the rules had become outdated; it had been a tradition to act as sort of a ‘reward’ or relief at the end of a hard year,” Maidique ’21 said. “At this point, Staples is a rigorous enough environment on its own that it seems like all of us deserve a break.” 

This comes as a relief to many seniors who do not take advanced placement classes, but still wish to take part in the game. It maximizes inclusivity and gives all seniors a chance to engage in such an exciting game without the stress of having to be enrolled in more rigorous classes.  

“For the longest time, I have wanted to do [senior] assassins but I was sad because I knew I would be left out since I don’t take APs,” Gabriela Lampugnale ’21 said. “So it is great [that] they decided to do something this year for everyone.” 

This year it is predicted that there will be over a hundred students participating, which is a drastic increase with the alteration of who is eligible to play. 

Furthermore, there will be more money raised from the event this year. Participants pay $25 to enter the game, and 20% of the total goes to support the Sandy Hook foundation.

To follow the COVID-19 guidelines, all participants will be wearing face masks when ‘assassinating’ other players. If not, one will lose their privilege to play and be removed.

“It’s nice to have assassins [Showdown] back, after losing a lot of the events we usually have as seniors,” Ryan Fenstermacher ’21 said.  “I’m glad we can still finish off the year a bit more normal.” 

After a year packed with stressful classes, the tedious college process and a pandemic that resulted in the cancellation of most traditional highschool events, the seniors long for some normalcy. 

“The class of 2021 has lost school dances and a football season,” Lopez-Paul ’21 said. [We wanted to give] whatever we could to give back to the entire population of the graduating class [since we’re fully back in school].”