Screams sound through the hallways, teachers run away from students and students run away from teachers. The game of Assassin has begun.

Executive Board member Bess Frierson announced the senior and faculty game in an email on Sept. 27, outlining the rules of Assassin.

“Our main objective is to ‘Assassinate’ (pin your clothespin) to the person who you have been assigned,” Frierson wrote in a email on Sept. 27.

According to the rules, once someone gets their opponent’s clothespin, they have to “assassinate” the person on that defeated player’s clothespin. The game continues until the last few people are standing with each other’s pins. When one of the final two people left gets the other opponent out, the game is over.

“No one was safe,” senior Chidimma Nwafor said. “You had to constantly keep looking over your shoulder as soon as the game started.”

The game began during lunch on Sept. 28 and ended Oct. 11. The winners were senior Faith Soriano and Fitness and Wellness teacher Dani Lenoir. The game Assassin is a recurring tradition at Archer for the Class of 2022 and in particular was played during their sophomore year as well.

“I was nervous [but] also very much excited to play this game because I know that there’s some faculty that I just haven’t had the chance to talk to throughout the year because of my busy schedule,” Nwafor said. “I’m really excited to go and clip them and to start a conversation with them.”

The game of Assassin resumed when the students and faculty arrive on campus. The game continues throughout the day except during any class period including free periods and any meeting times that students have with their teachers. The game continued during lunch as well as after school until 5:30 p.m. when the late bus departures from Archer.

Nwafor said she felt very “happy” that the exec board decided to do this game because it really brought her joy throughout the day.

“This is actually the least stressed that I’ve been in a really long time. One of the things I’m stressing now is college [applications],” Nwafor said. “So actually being able to take myself away from college or work and put myself into the game Assassin was really fun and a great experience to have.”

Being back on campus, seniors have been able to continue some traditions but senior Presley Sacavitch said she felt this one is the first time where she felt that the seniors really took their title.

“I felt like this was one of the first senior things we were doing, especially because the faculty was involved,” Sacavitch said. “Last year because of COVID-19 we missed a lot of that bonding time, and I know how competitive our grade is … I just knew this would be so exciting.”

Director of Academic Operations Kasey Nott said that this was her first time playing Assassin ever. She mentioned that she had heard of the game but had no idea what she was getting herself into. She stated that she enjoyed being a part of the game because she got to see the students and faculty have fun as a community.

“I think my favorite visual is watching Ms. Gold race down the hallway. I’m not sure if she was running from someone or running towards someone,” Nott said. “It was very hilarious.”

History teacher Beth Gold’s first reaction to hearing about Assassin was that it would be fun, but she also felt that she would have too much work to play the game. However, she said that after picking up her pin and finding out the assigned person, she was ready to get started.

“My competitive nature just took over me when I saw my person, and I’m just so disappointed in myself that I didn’t get the clothespin on them,” Gold said.

Nwafor said that she felt the Class of 2022 plays Assassin because it is a fun game to get the grade connected more and to share laughter throughout the school day.

“I love it, and I am so glad that this idea was brought back to Archer,” Gold said. “It’s really adding a level of intrigue and competition and joy to the halls.”

Senior Faith Soriano said she loved playing assassin with her grade and had a great time sharing laughs with her classmates trying to get one another.

“It felt really good to win and at first I wasn’t really into the game but I think when Mr. Wog ended up getting me I decided to go in fully,” Soriano said. “As it slowly started narrowing down, I just decided that I was going to try and stay in for as long as I could and that made me practically hid in Coach Lenoir’s room during my free periods and lunch periods.”