Math department celebrates Pi Day

In+Mrs.+Abigail+Pena%E2%80%99s+room+during+lunch%2C+Emma+Gloudeman+takes+a+photo+while+Ashton+Davis+cuts+the+blueberry+cardamom+pie+he+made+in+honor+of+Pi+Day.+Photo+by+Danica+Tran.

In Mrs. Abigail Pena’s room during lunch, Emma Gloudeman takes a photo while Ashton Davis cuts the blueberry cardamom pie he made in honor of Pi Day. Photo by Danica Tran.

An annual tradition in the math department, students and teachers celebrate March 14, Pi Day, by eating pies in class. Π is the symbol for the Greek letter pi, which represents the quotient of any circle’s circumference divided by its diameter. Although pi is irrational, it begins with 3.14, leading to its national recognition on March 14. Students in Honors Trigonometry/Calculus and AP Calculus regularly use pi in their curriculum.

Mrs. Vicki Lovitt’s seventh period Honors Pre-Calculus class had a Pi Day party with two pies and four pizzas.

“I don’t really care about celebrating it that much. I just think it’s fun because everyone loves pie,” Lovitt said.

Through years of teaching Integrated I, EAP math and math analysis, Mrs. Abigail Pena does not remember a year which she did not commemorate the day.

“We’re math people and we don’t get the chance to celebrate very often, so we try to whenever we can. What’s better than Pi Day?” Pena said.

In preparation for Pi Day, Ashton Davis tried four different pie recipes to decide which one to bring to school. During lunch, he served his homemade blueberry cardamom pie to his friends in Pena’s room since he did not have his math class that day.

Davis said, “I celebrate Pi Day every year because it combines two of my favorite things in life: baking and math. We experience pi every day, even if we don’t realize it. Pi exists in the pupils of our eyes, the spiral double helix of our DNA and rings traveling out from a splash in a pond. So why not celebrate such a universal number with such a universally-loved dish?”