Added: 05-26-10
Assassin fever sweeps the school
Nerf gun based game is real-life war, money at stake
A junior guy silently creeps around Westlake, waiting for a classmate to emerge from her after-school activity, Nerf gun at the ready. Suddenly, he takes off running as she attempts to escape from him. She flees and attempts to get to her car. Just as she is unlocking it, he runs up, shoots her, and escapes into his getaway vehicle. This is Assassin.
The game of Assassin has recently taken over as the activity of choice for many Westlake students. In this role-playing competition, students get into pairs and are assigned targets who they have to kill within one week. At the same time, they must also be on the defensive because another pair is trying to assassinate them. This creates a circle of wannabe hitters.
“Our Relay for Life team, Team TechYes, started an Assassin game because we thought we would be able to raise a large amount of money,” referee junior Kate Travis said. “We though we would have fun doing it. Two hundred people signed up in teams of two. Each person paid $10 to participate. We donated $1,000 to the American Cancer Society, and the other $1,000 will go to the winning team.”
Many different ways to kill are allowed. The most common is shooting a target with a Nerf gun. Other methods of assassination include stabbing with a Nerf dart or a Sharpie, poisoning a person’s drink by marking a red “X” on the bottom, or stabbing with a Nerf sword.
“It was cool making it long enough to be one of the final groups,” said junior Connor Sparks, a participant in the Team TechYes game. “It was fun thinking of new strategies to take people out.”
Some stories of kills include hiding on the roof of a church and dragging students off the safe-zone of school during lunch to shoot them. Though safety is in question, students still love to play and ultimately hope that they are the last assassin standing to win the cash prize comprised of the entry fees of all the contestants. Sophomores Robert Hunt and Chris McDaniel won the first game of Assassin (run by sophomore Sarah Butler.) Other games have been coordinated by Kate, which was open to all grades, senior Michelle Suh, who organized the senior game, sophomore Keren Rempe, whose game was open to anybody¬¬¬, and freshman Ali Gray, who ran a freshman game. All but Sarah and Keren’s game are still going on.
“The first week of running assassin was the hardest because I was tracking all 100 teams on my own,” Kate said. “I was putting in an hour each day working on it. We’re in the fifth week now so there are fewer teams remaining now, but it’s still crazy. Still, it was worth it and it is very likely that we will put on another Assassin game next year.”
A junior guy silently creeps around Westlake, waiting for a classmate to emerge from her after-school activity, Nerf gun at the ready. Suddenly, he takes off running as she attempts to escape from him. She flees and attempts to get to her car. Just as she is unlocking it, he runs up, shoots her, and escapes into his getaway vehicle. This is Assassin.
The game of Assassin has recently taken over as the activity of choice for many Westlake students. In this role-playing competition, students get into pairs and are assigned targets who they have to kill within one week. At the same time, they must also be on the defensive because another pair is trying to assassinate them. This creates a circle of wannabe hitters.
“Our Relay for Life team, Team TechYes, started an Assassin game because we thought we would be able to raise a large amount of money,” referee junior Kate Travis said. “We though we would have fun doing it. Two hundred people signed up in teams of two. Each person paid $10 to participate. We donated $1,000 to the American Cancer Society, and the other $1,000 will go to the winning team.”
Many different ways to kill are allowed. The most common is shooting a target with a Nerf gun. Other methods of assassination include stabbing with a Nerf dart or a Sharpie, poisoning a person’s drink by marking a red “X” on the bottom, or stabbing with a Nerf sword.
“It was cool making it long enough to be one of the final groups,” said junior Connor Sparks, a participant in the Team TechYes game. “It was fun thinking of new strategies to take people out.”
Some stories of kills include hiding on the roof of a church and dragging students off the safe-zone of school during lunch to shoot them. Though safety is in question, students still love to play and ultimately hope that they are the last assassin standing to win the cash prize comprised of the entry fees of all the contestants. Sophomores Robert Hunt and Chris McDaniel won the first game of Assassin (run by sophomore Sarah Butler.) Other games have been coordinated by Kate, which was open to all grades, senior Michelle Suh, who organized the senior game, sophomore Keren Rempe, whose game was open to anybody¬¬¬, and freshman Ali Gray, who ran a freshman game. All but Sarah and Keren’s game are still going on.
“The first week of running assassin was the hardest because I was tracking all 100 teams on my own,” Kate said. “I was putting in an hour each day working on it. We’re in the fifth week now so there are fewer teams remaining now, but it’s still crazy. Still, it was worth it and it is very likely that we will put on another Assassin game next year.”