Under the (Water) Gun

At the end of the year, seniors take part in Water Wars, a team competition in which students are challenged to hit opposing team members with water guns. The objective of Water Wars is to get out as many team members from the opposing team as possible and at the end of each round, the team with the most players still in moves on to the next round. At the conclusion of Water Wars the last team standing wins the prize of a pool of money.
Seniors Dakota Peel and Olivia Smith of team Splash n’ Dash planned to set up seniors Givon Cinque and Mindy Mbidi-Glaou of Choppa Boyz by inviting them over to Smith’s house. When Cinque and Mbidi-Glaou arrived at the house, they brought the rest of their team. Peel and Smith decided to go outside and were ambushed.
Peel and Smith have the option to buy back into the game for $20 per person or stay out for the remainder of the round, which concludes on Saturday night of each week .“I want them to be seen like every other human being is seen.”
“Buybacks are a good way to get back in if you don’t agree with how you got out,” Peel said. “Then you can always get back in.”
Walking out of his front door, senior Chad Burnham found himself being approached by members of the opposing team. He attempted to get back into his house, but the door was locked, so he decided to run down the street.
“I [was] very scared so I ran really fast,” Burnham said. “Then I fell and got caught.”
Hiding on the side of senior Emma Capelli’s house, senior Alanah Soriano waited for Capelli to leave for work. Senior Isabella Cueny was in communication with Capelli’s sister to determine her whereabouts to give Soriano the opportunity to strike.
“I was waiting next to her garage and [Capelli] shot me from outside her garage so I couldn’t shoot her back,” Soriano said
During Water Wars, seniors have staked out other teams as early as 4 a.m. in order to get them out. Others have virtually shut down neighborhoods. In response, those seniors were disqualified for the remainder of the round.Water Wars is a way for all the seniors to come together one last time before they graduate.