All Hail to Pi! at Discovery

Discovery Middle School seventh- and eighth-graders paid tribute to one of mathematics’ most important characters.

For the third year, Discovery observed Pi Day “to explore the most commonly talked about irrational number in fun and creative ways,” math teacher Kate Wade said. “Pi never repeats or ends. Pi is the circumference of any circle divided by its diameter.”

Pi Day competitions were held March 9 because actual Pi Day (03/14) will occur during Spring Break. Wade acknowledged the seventh- and eighth-grade math teachers for “a group effort to pull off all the activities.”

“Pi Day helps students learn more than just the first 50 digits of Pi,” Wade said. “They also learn history behind Pi and some of real-life applications.”

Students entered a poster contest and also “decorated digits” by changing a number in a digit of Pi into a picture of a real-life object. They also had a homemade pie bake-off, and 21 students competed in a pie-eating contest — no hands allowed.

For the Pi Song Sing-Off, students created lyrics that included at least three Pi facts. From memory, they recited as many digits of Pi possible without paper or pencil. Seventh-grade winner Anna Flowers recited 227 digits, and eighth-grader Tristen Williams amassed 200 digits.

In the Pi Relay, four-member teams raced to put the first 20 digits of Pi in order before other teams. Each class wore student-designed T-shirts.

“Most students enjoyed the song competition the most,” Wade said. Their major accomplishment resulted from reciting 50 digits of Pi. “They like seeing their name on the wall.”

“I didn’t realize the decorating digits pictures would stretch around the entire eighth-grade hall,” eighth-grader Keenen Vance.

Katie Allen can’t wait to wear her Pi Day T-shirt everywhere she goes “to let people know that Pi Day at Discovery isn’t just about numbers … it’s about thinking outside the box.”

For seventh-grader Michelle Ralleca, the Pi activities “showed how we can be creative in different ways.”