Celina Lee
Senior Clara Hoffman works on an assignment in class with her senior elimination beach ball touching her face. The new rules require remaining players to touch their balls on their head as to not be eliminated from the game. Hoffman said she has gone great lengths to get her target out. "I've gone to my friends' houses to eliminate them," Hoffman said.
Whether it be before the bell rings, at a movie theater or even in the safe-haven of homes — no senior left standing is safe. Out of the 371 participating seniors, only 30 remain in Palo Alto High School’s annual elimination game.
The rules of the game couldn’t be simpler: hold on to your inflatable beach ball to not be eliminated. According to Kennedy Do, senior class vice president and event organizer, the game is harder than it looks.
“At first, I didn’t think that it would be too difficult to keep the ball in my hand, but people can eliminate you at any second,” Do said. “I was recording a video of my friend eliminating her target and before I could even put the ball back in my hand, I got eliminated.”
For the first time this year, the elimination game is being hosted on the “Splashin” app, which allows for a more entertaining game. According to Do, hosting the game on the app creates a more enjoyable, less error-prone experience.
“Previous elimination games were managed manually via Google Sheets,” Do said. “Transitioning to the app has significantly streamlined the process. With automatic target assignments, the event organizers can also participate. Senior elimination is one of our final traditions as students, and it’s a fun and memorable way to interact with our peers.”
Ethan Wang, one of the last seniors left standing, said he has managed to stay in the game through both strategy and luck.
“The game has been a lot of fun, especially plotting with and against my friends trying to eliminate peers,” Wang said. “As the game has progressed it definitely has gotten a lot harder and luck has had a lot to do with me staying in the game.”
As of press time, here are the final 30 seniors left standing, by alphabetical order:
Aditya Hiremath
Aiden Chen
Anna van Valkenburg
Briar Dorogusker
Charlie Chen
Christian Saleh
Clara Hoffman
Coco Vonderhaar
Eduardo Correa
Eliza Stoksik
Ethan Wang
Gabe Sanchez
Hanu Thakur
Hiram Garcia
Justin Han
Kaylie Cho
Kelly Tanaka
Lily Jeffery
Lucy Griffin
Nick Feitzinger
Peter Fetter
Peyton Wehner
Rebecca Doran
Sadie Voorhees
Sam Janik
Samantha Wu
Turner McFarland
William Hickey
William Tu
Zachary Crystal