Eaton High School seniors have started a tradition to be remembered and repeated for generations. The game, called Senior Assassin, is played outside of school hours, and the goal is for each person to “eliminate” their target using a water gun. To be protected from being eliminated, students have to wear goggles around their necks. As the game gets closer to an end, goggles will have to be worn on their heads. 

There are many rules that the participating players must follow. Players have to track down their assigned target within one week, otherwise they will be added to a “bounty list,” where any senior can hunt them. There must be video proof of an elimination in order for each “kill” to count. The game is run through an app called Splashin’, where each person can see their target’s location at all times. Everyone must have their location on at all times. 

There are also safe zones, such as when students are in the school building, at work, or in a place of worship. Being at a sporting event, on the playing field at practice, or in a game are all times that are off limits, but outside of the playing area each senior can freely be assassinated.

Senior Assassin takes place during the home stretch to graduation, typically in Jan., Feb., March, April and May. Only seniors participate in this event, and to play at EHS this year, there was a $10 entrance fee. There is also an opportunity for each player to be revived back into the game, which costs $25 and can only be done one time per player. Currently, the pot of money is up to $800. 

There are two days that players cannot kill anyone the entire day, which are prom and graduation. Once prom occurs on April 18, players will not be allowed to revive back into the game. If these rules are not followed, a player can be kicked out and disqualified. 

Senior Assassin started as a student-organized senior tradition during the 2024-2025 school year. Kaya Podtburg (26) organized the 2025-2026 school year Senior Assassin. “It took a ton of work, making sure [that] everything runs right and [that] all of the rules are good. Safety was our big concern, so we made sure to emphasize on that,” said Podtburg. Chad Shaw, EHS history teacher, was the teacher who helped organize this event for the two years Eaton High School has participated.

This game impacts a lot of senior players, as students are coming to school every day with goggles around their neck to avoid being killed in parking lots or during lunch. Celie Tharp (26) said, “I would recommend other people to do Senior Assassin because it is really fun.”

Senior Assassin is a fun game to be played for seniors to finish out their high school experience on a high note. There are guidelines to be followed for safety reasons, but this is a tradition that should continue to occur at EHS in the upcoming years.