Every spring, as the end of the school year creeps closer and graduation appears on the horizon, one tradition electrifies seniors at ETHS: Senior Gotcha. It’s a game, a battle of wits and reflexes, and depending on who you ask, a cause for significant stress or fun.
This year, over 250 seniors are participating in the game. Grouped into teams of four or five people, each Monday teams are randomly assigned another team to hunt down and squirt with a water gun. If they squirt a member of the team they are hunting before the next Saturday at midnight, they move on to the next round, where they are assigned a new team to hunt. If they fail to squirt a member of the team they are hunting, they are eliminated from the game. The twist is, while a team is hunting their target, they are being hunted by another team, whose identities remain a mystery to them. Players are immune from being squirted while on school property and while wearing swim goggles. The last team standing wins a cash prize.
While the basic rules of the game remain the same, how it is run varies by year and is determined by each year’s moderators, who are fellow seniors. This year, moderators Katherine Granchalek and Edie Albert chose to run the game through Splashin’, an app designed for Senior Gotcha. On Splashin’, players can see the locations of their teammates and the locations of members of the team they are hunting. Additionally, videos of players being eliminated are posted for all to see.
For many seniors, Senior Gotcha is an exciting ritual to mark the end of senior year that they have eagerly awaited throughout high school.
“It’s a really fun thing that I’ve looked forward to for so long. I remember last year watching videos of the seniors playing and having a lot of fun,” said senior Josephine Teoudoussia.
Although seniors can choose their own teammates, the teams they are assigned to hunt may be made up of seniors they have never met. This can lead to the formation of new relationships and help bring the grade closer.
“I know a lot of people have already met new people playing, and I hope they continue to get to know people that they haven’t during their last months in Evanston,” commented Granchalek.
“It’s just a way to make the grade feel all conjoined and together,” Teoudoussia added.
The cash prize, nearly $1000 dollars made up of $15 contributions from all of the teams, is also part of the fun.
“There’s a lot of money that you could win,” Teoudoussia remarks.
But along with the excitement can come stress. Around every corner, a senior’s hunters could be waiting for them, armed with Super Soakers, ready to take them out. The constant need to look over their shoulders and have their goggles on their foreheads can take a toll, albeit not a heavy one.
“On top of school it’s another stresser,” voiced Teoudoussia, “but I think it’s a fun stressor, and it’s ok if you get out.”
Many seniors decided to skip the mix of excitement and stress altogether. Whether it was lack of interest or lack of awareness, nearly 700 seniors chose to sit out Senior Gotcha.
Senior Elijah Sutton’s decision to not participate was informed by the enormous number of people in the grade and a lack of connections with people involved.
“I don’t know anybody who is playing the game,” Sutton stated. “I don’t think our school is small enough for everyone to play, and most people probably aren’t playing.”
Even without most of the grade playing, roughly 250 seniors are still involved. This enormous pool of players, larger than a typical game of Senior Gotcha, poses a logistical challenge for the game’s moderators.
“It’s hard to please every player, especially with such a large group. Making sure that we stand our ground and follow every rule is going to be very important,” stated Granchalek.
Another issue the moderators have faced this year is an overwhelming enthusiasm from participants.
“People are taking it really seriously. It was supposed to just be for fun, but it’s turned out to be a little more competitive than we had initially thought it would be,” Granchalek admitted.
Overzealous competitors is not an uncommon issue in games of Senior Gotcha, and in some cases it can lead to players being put in real harm. According to the Daily Herald, last April in nearby Gurnee, local seniors playing in their school’s game of Senior Gotcha rushed into a restaurant with their water guns in pursuit of a victim. A restaurant patron, who was not aware that the game was taking place and thought the seniors were armed with real guns, pulled out his concealed carry weapon and held the seniors at gunpoint. Luckily, a server at the restaurant quickly stepped in and explained the situation to the patron, but disaster was only narrowly avoided. The article also describes a car crash in Itasca that resulted from reckless driving inspired by Senior Gotcha. Incidents like this caused ETHS to send out a reminder in the April 9th Wildkit Weekly to all ETHS students and their families with a reminder that the game was not school-sponsored and no weapons, real or fake, were allowed on school property. It also expressed concern for the possible dangers Senior Gotcha can pose.
“While the intent of the game is often friendly competition, we are deeply concerned about the potential risks associated with participation, including the possibility of misunderstandings or serious incidents arising from the use of toy weapons or physical contact. Students playing this game often demonstrate unsafe behaviors in an attempt to evade or surprise other participants,” the email read.
Albert and Granchalek are aware of the safety concerns that come with the game, and the consequences participants may face as a result of breaking school rules and city laws. In order to make sure that all seniors are safe and respectful of laws, they outlined strict rules on the Splashin’ app, as well as on the Senior Gotcha Instagram account. A post on the account states that all types of guns besides water guns – airsoft, paintball, Orbeez, foam, disc, Nerf, etc. – are strictly prohibited, and that water guns must be brightly colored and impossible to mistake for real guns. It also prohibits squirting someone while driving over five miles per hour and trespassing in homes, workplaces, places of worship and ETHS-sponsored sports. If players violate any of these rules, they are eliminated from the game. With these rules in place, the moderators hope seniors can enjoy the game while staying safe.
