“You’re out!” are the words someone playing Water Tag would hate to hear. This fall, 35 seniors joined in a game involving strategy, individual connections, and water.
Liz Sleper (12) and her friends gathered inspiration for the idea of Water Tag over the summer through social media. The goal of the game is to splash water on an opponent with a water gun or water bottle.
Sleper’s younger sister Grace assigned the opponents.

“She put everyone’s name in a spinny wheel app and then she spun it,” Sleper said. “The next person that got selected was the next target and so on. It was random.”
Within the senior class, 35 individuals participated. Some found the game forced them to connect with those they were not close with.
“I think that’s the beauty of it,” Sleper said. “You have to step out of your comfort zone and talk to people you might not normally talk to.”

At the start of the week, senior Ethan Grawe struggled to find his opponent, senior Eadie Tibbott.
“Trying to hunt down Eadie Tibbott for five days in a row and finally getting her out on Friday was super rewarding,” Grawe said.
Another obstacle that players faced was the immunity granted by wearing goggles or floaties. If the individual wore goggles on their face or floaties around their arms, they could not be eliminated.
Senior Conrad Smith was an avid follower of this rule.
“I even wore them during football practice,” Smith said. “I wasn’t taking any chances.”
Lucky for Smith, school hours, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., were off-limits. This gave him some time to be without his goggles.
Another senior, Noelle Bardgett, had a surprise waiting for her that she discovered after she drove home from school.
“My opponent was in the back of my car, and I had no idea,” Bardgett said. “I had my goggles on still, but then my dad came home and he took my goggles off my head!”
Senior Ashleigh Hartman took advantage of Bardgett in her moment of weakness and was able to get her out.
At the end of the week, a face-off was to be held between those who had not yet been tagged. Seniors Erika Holtz, Brody Kafer, Conrad Smith, and Jack Smith were the last four standing once Friday night came around. However, due to the rainy weather, the face-off was canceled and the four were left with bragging rights as a reward.
“I think doing it again in the future would be a great opportunity for the senior class to come together before we graduate,” Sleper said. “I think a lot of people agree that homecoming week shouldn’t be the end of the fun!”