Pi Day

Math students in Lynn Greenhill’s Memorial Middle School eighth-grade classes joined in the international celebration of Pi Day on March 14 by wearing a commemorative T-shirt and memorizing the mathematical constant known as π (pi) in decimal terms.

Pi is the widely known, transcendental number having a value rounded to eight places of 3.14159265.

“The students organized it all,” said Lynn Greenhill, who teaches Gifted and Talented Geometry and Pre-Advanced Placement (AP) Algebra. “They organized a celebration and put together the design for their T-shirt.” (See student group photograph)

On March 14, students shared snacks including pies, of course, during class, and one student was named the winner for memorizing the mathematical constant out to about 50 separate places. Pi Day is celebrated annually on March 14 (3/14 in the month/day date format) since 3, 1 and 4 are the first significant digits in the decimal form for pi.

“The students made it a very exciting, and involved, and fun-filled day,” Mr. Greenhill said. “We are limited to a 42-minute class, but on this day we had a celebration and a ‘Nerds Unite’ Day.”

Celebrating pi is important for other reasons, the 23-year math teacher also quipped. It is often represented by images of the circle.

“Without it, our life would be square and boring,” he said.