Mu Alpha Theta (MAΘ) hosted its annual Pi Day event on March 13, Pi Day Eve, featuring both new and returning activities. The event consisted mainly of three parts: a Pi Scavenger Hunt throughout the day on campus, a Pi Relay in the green top after school, a Pie-eating Contest, and a Whipped Cream Fight on the basketball court.
Pi Day is an annual celebration of the mathematical constant pi (approximately 3.14) officially dated on March 14. Each year, MAΘ hosts a Pi Day event featuring a variety of activities for students and teachers to enjoy.
“Our main goal with the event is for people who may not be very comfortable with mathematics to gain an appreciation for mathematics and understand how it can be used in fun and interesting ways,” Jiwu Lee (11), MAΘ president, said. “For members, we use Pi Day as a way for them to learn what it means to spread love and knowledge of mathematics to more general audiences.”
The Pi Day celebration began during activity period with its recurring Pi Scavenger Hunt. Participants navigated the middle and high school building to solve clues related to the mathematical constant. The winners, Katie Croft (9) and Seungbie Kim (9), won free pizza as the prize.
After school, MAΘ introduced a new event—the Pi Relay Race—which included diverse Pi-related games such as chocopie eating, guessing the nth digit of Pi, and Pi charades. Participants formed teams of four, flaunting their knowledge of the mathematical constant.
After the Pi Relay, participants moved to the basketball court for the Pie-eating Contest and the Whipped Cream Pie Fight. These have been MAΘ’s signature Pi Day events for the past several years and remain popular among participants.
In the Pie-eating contest, participants must eat the pie as fast as possible without using their hands. After two fierce rounds, Anders Christensen (11) and Dom Min (11) emerged victorious as the reigning champions of apple pie eating. In the Whipped Cream Pie Fight, participants gathered in a small circle, each with a plate of whipped cream, and threw whipped cream at one another.
“The favorite part of the Pi Day activity was getting to whip my friends, and getting to cream on them,” Brennan Park (10), Pi Day event participant, said. “For example, my friend group threw cream at Ian Kim (10) in the whipping event, and being able to whip my friends was very fun.”
MAΘ’s annual Pi Day event exemplifies one of the most successful SIS clubs’ community-engaging activities. Even though the event was hosted mainly after school, many people came to the basketball court to participate in the event.
“It is always fun to have events that are not competitions every once in a while as a breath of fresh air,” Jiwu said. “Pi Day achieves that goal by combining all the fun events—like pieing your friends—and mathematics. Through maintaining Pi Day as a tradition, both members and the broader school community can appreciate mathematics in a non-academic environment.”
