The week of January 9 marked the first week of Cherokee’s annual game of Spoons, and so much has happened in this short period of time. From over 90 people getting out, to controversial lunch detentions, it is time to cover what happened while the seniors battled with an interesting weapon of choice. 

The basic rules of Spoons are as follows: Every person that wants to play receives a plastic spoon which must be kept with them at all times. Everyone then receives one specific person to target for the week. The goal for the week is to get their target’s spoon without their own spoon being taken. 

There are some more intricate rules, but that is the main idea of this assassin-like game: Get your target’s spoon, and never have your “predator” grab hold of yours. 

The more specific rules of the game that were not completely clear at the start of the game was Jason Buczko’s downfall this week.

“The choir room is supposed to be spoon free because of the teacher’s rules. But, since she wasn’t there, that rule was gone, and I didn’t know it.”

The person that targeted him waited most of the period so his guard was down when they attacked, to which Jason “applauded them for being smart about that.”

Despite this rule being the reason for him to be out, he believes that safe zones are important and should be respected.

“If teachers don’t want spoons in their classroom it shouldn’t be played. Where it gets a little dicey is where the teachers are absent, like in my case.”

But at the end of the day, Jason was able to stay involved by helping his friends and accepting that it is just a game of Spoons, not life or death. 

Another senior has suffered worse consequences from the game of Spoons. Sara Barbagiovanni was part of a chase in the North Cafeteria that occurred this week. It was not the first chase of this year’s Spoons season, but the administration is trying to make it the last. 

During lunch on Tuesday, the person who was targeting Sara Barbagiovanni tried to get her spoon, which ignited a brief chase from one side of the North Cafe to the other. Despite it ending when a teacher asked them to, the two both received equal disciplinary action.

According to Sara, “It was handled kind of poorly.”

Sara and the person who chased her both got three lunch detentions, which changed the aggressiveness of Spoons during lunchtime. When Jason Buczko was asked about this change, he said that Sara’s detention restored a bit of order in the North Cafeteria. 

Sara doesn’t agree with the number of lunch detentions she got but is ready to just let it slide.

“I think it wouldn’t have been such a thing if that one [incident before this] didn’t happen. It’s not like we disrupted people, it’s not like I jumped over a table,” which was an action that did happen in the North Cafe this week.

Students who were a part of a separate chase also obtained the same disciplinary action, which to Sara, proves “it really wasn’t based on getting in trouble, it was more about proving a point.” 

Even after this whole situation, Sara didn’t get her spoon stolen this week. 

The North Cafe has certainly been the main stage for Spoons action this year, but other non-safe zones in Cherokee are chaotic as well. Before Sara’s detention, it was beginning to look more like “Lord of the Flies” than Spoons. Now that things have calmed down, players can focus on having fun in the game.

Along with this week’s game events, it was decided that members of the game that had their spoon taken away can’t rejoin next week. In years past, players had the opportunity to get another chance at Spoons. Since this year’s student leader isn’t doing that, those who are out now, are out for good. 

After this first week of spoons, it is unclear who the final winners will be, and what lengths people will go to steal these prized utensils. The future is still unclear and unpredictable. 

Going into the second week, Jason Buczko leaves everyone with the message of “trust no one.”

Sara Barbagiovanni asks for everyone to “Be careful, teachers are a little too heated when it’s just a fun game.”

Good luck and happy second week of spoons!  If you are interested in being interviewed about the second week of Spoons or have a story to share, email me at [email protected] with your story.