Pie for Pi: Towne Acres Elementary celebrates 3.14 in style

Pi Day came full circle at Towne Acres Elementary, where students recited digits, ran laps and won literal pie for pi. About 50 fifth graders spent the day celebrating Pi Day with a lineup of creative challenges and activities organized by teacher Karen Bunch. The event transformed the mathematical constant into an energetic, hands-on experience before students headed into spring break. One of the first challenges of the day put students' memories to the test. During the Pi reciting contest, students stepped forward one by one to see how far they could go through the never ending string of digits. "Most students got about 13 or 14 digits," Bunch said, "But one student, James Bagley, made it all the way to 105 digits." Bagley said his interest in the famous number started in his kindergarten class. "I can do about 110 digits," he said. "I remember learning about this when I was about five. It was the first day when I was in kindergarten and my teacher said it was her favorite number." That early curiosity eventually turned into a challenge he took seriously. "About a year ago, I started memorizing 100 digits," Bagley said. "We were doing the pi reciting contest today, so I studied a week prior to today. I was studying pi for a while, and today, I got 105 digits." He said his prize fit the theme of the day, noting he received a pie for pi. The celebration stretched far beyond memorizing numbers. Throughout the day, students moved between activities that blended math with creativity and movement. Students wrote "Pi-kus," short poems modeled after haikus but structured with a 3-1-4 syllable pattern. Pi-kus were performed in front of the group with a "Pi-try Slam" before the day's activities spilled outside the classroom. Before recess, students took part in a "pi-K," running 3.14 kilometers on the school playground. Bunch said that was equal to about 13 laps around the playground. After working up an appetite, students enjoyed an on-theme lunch as well. "Of course, we're having pizza and pie for lunch," Bunch said. "Then they're going to do a little craft with circles this afternoon." Bunch said the goal behind the event goes beyond simply celebrating a famous number. She said activities like these can change the way students approach math. "Especially for math, a lot of kids come in and say, 'I'm not a math person,'" she said. "I tell them at the beginning of the year, if you're a person and you do math, you're a math person." She said hands-on activities help remove some of that hesitation. "Doing hands-on and fun things just brings them out of their box," Bunch said. "It makes them realize that math can be fun, and that all subjects can be fun. It gets them more interested in it, and when all of them are doing it, it makes it feel less daunting." The Pi Day celebration itself is still relatively new for the class. Bunch said the idea for the event came together last spring when Pi Day happened to fall right before the break. "The year before, spring break fell on the actual day, 3.14," Bunch said. "We were looking for something to keep them excited and contained, but also not necessarily pencil paperwork the day before spring break." With Pi Day landing during the break this year, the class decided to celebrate early. "Since it's tomorrow, we decided we would go ahead and do it again," Bunch said, adding that the event gives students a chance to work with classmates outside their usual setting. "Overall, it's a good day to show we can do math and other subjects as well and have fun doing it," Bunch said. "We also have them divided up, not by their homerooms, so they're with different kids. It's a good time to kind of get that middle school feel and have them collaborate with other students."