Mr. Bickes came to the sophomore’s English classes to talk about how we needed to be more like family. What stuck out to me was his point that we are going to be making memories throughout high school, so we should get to know the rest of our [graduating class]. As great as it is making memories with just my little group of friends, I think it would be nice to at least know who else is in our grade. Mr. Bickes also explained how when we are seniors, we will have to work together to make the first day happen. It takes teamwork to put something like the first day together – and that means being familiar with your teammates. It didn’t take long for the class of 2020 to begin the process.

About two weeks ago, Michelle Yao sent out a text to a small group of her fellow classmates, explaining the idea. As the group expanded, they started using Remind to notify the classmates who were participating.

Creator of the Sophomore Assassins game, Michelle Yao

Michelle had created her own version of a game called “Assassins”, which the seniors have a tradition of playing. Assassins is a game where participants have a target to eliminate, and then take the target that person had. However, instead of using water guns to eliminate players like the seniors do, the sophomores wear clothespins on their sleeves in a ‘capture-the-flag’ style. Through Remind (a text messaging app), the sophomores are assigned a target, and have to take the clothespin off of that person’s sleeve. They are not allowed to do this during class. Once they are successful with that, the target of the person they just eliminated becomes their next target.

This game has a competitive element, and often students’ targets are people they don’t know. The competition gives them motivation to find out who their targets are, making it a great way to learn who is who in the class of 2020. The sophomore version also doesn’t have the threat of water being sprayed onto papers or people who are not participating. It is easy for them to play at school without getting into too much trouble. The sophomores seem to really enjoy the game, and hope to continue learning about their fellow classmates.