Sticking to stay-in: Seniors compete in Spoons

Starting on Feb. 27, dozens of seniors faced off in a competitive, monthlong game of tag-or-be-tagged known as Senior Spoons. Wielding neon stickers as their weapons and yellow plastic spoons as shields, all players were focused on the grand prize: a VIP Prom Package consisting of a cut-in-line prom pass and a free ticket to the senior graduation night cruise.

The primary objective of Senior Spoons is to eliminate an assigned target and become the last player standing, or rather, the last sticker-free player. In order to eliminate a target, students place a neon-colored sticker on their target’s body or clothing, while they are not visibly holding their yellow spoon. Participants were granted immunity during class hours and in safe zones—locations where tagging a target could be disruptive or dangerous, such as bathrooms, locker rooms, the parking lot and inside players’ houses. After eliminating their target, participants confirmed their tag by taking the other player’s assignment card; their target becomes the student’s new target. Additionally, both players notified Seniors Jodie Chen and Claire McCulloch—the Associated Student Body (ASB) officers responsible for running Senior Spoons—by text message, assuring that they were in agreement regarding the tag.

Staying in the game also entailed keeping up-to-date on Special Immunity Days, days in which regular rules for retaining immunity were disregarded, through announcements posted on the Spoons Instagram account. ASB announced various Special Immunity Days throughout the month, including spirit days like Match With Your Spoon and Tie-Dye Tuesday, where players needed to wear a specified prop or costume—in addition to carrying their spoon—to stay in the game. The game also featured purge days, where spoons were rendered useless, forcing players to rely on their wits to avoid being tagged. Additionally, on these special days, players were required to get a fellow player out, or face elimination.

“Devising strategies to get my target out or avoid others during purges was fun. I hope the tradition continues and that future classes can also experience participating in spoons or just simply getting to watch their classmates run around trying to tag others,” Senior Maggie Liu said.

Students employed a variety of creative measures to sneak up on their targets and avoid being spotted. They altered defining aspects of their appearances, struck truces with fellow players and equipped themselves with makeshift shields for protection. Some players also involved their teachers in the game, utilizing their classrooms as a hiding spot at lunch or asking to leave class at the bell to get a good start running to a safe zone.

“Although I was eliminated in the second to last week, I enjoyed the game while it lasted. After a certain point, it definitely became stressful, but it was fun to sneak around, trying not to get tagged out. I wore a total of five different disguises to stay concealed: two wigs, four hoodies, three pairs of shoes, three backpacks and lots of stress,” Senior Alexander Lee said.

Four weeks of covert planning and purging culminated in a final “Spoon Off” on March 30. The three surviving players, Seniors Kylie Duong, Brian Jackson and Ash Sanjeev, each stood on a corner of the outdoor stage in the quad and waited for the ASB officers to give the signal to begin the match. After a few close shaves, Duong and Jackson tagged each other simultaneously and Sanjeev emerged as the victorious winner of Senior Spoons.

The game was organized by the senior class officers, who prepared materials, created a document with rules, assigned targets, maintained communication with players and actively posted updates on social media regarding the names of remaining players and details for Special Immunity Days. They shared that the biggest challenge in running the activity was resolving disputes over tag-outs while maintaining student satisfaction.

“We cannot come up with rules for every single situation that will happen; people are creative and capable of finding loopholes. Unfortunately, we were not present to witness exactly what happened if two students disagreed over a tagout, so their honesty was integral to the game’s success,” Chen said.

Senior Spoons served simultaneously as a bonding activity and a fundraiser; the five dollar fee will be utilized in covering the costs of prom and the upcoming Senior Sunset for the senior class. Many seniors who participated shared that they enjoyed the game, especially the competitive and creative aspects of it, and consider it to be a memorable experience in their last