Students Celebrate Pi Day

Most people can name the first three digits of pi (π), a mathematical constant, equal to the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. 

Those first three digits of pi, 3.14, are the reason that St. Charles West students gathered on Monday to celebrate Pi Day. 

The St. Charles West math department hosted a series of activities on Monday for Pi Day. The memorization contest rewarded the person who could remember the most digits with pizza pie and a fruit pie. Students who could remember at least 10 digits won a piece of candy. 

Junior Mark Spearman started memorizing digits of pi on Saturday, in an effort to win a school contest.

Spearman had 56 digits of pi committed to memory on Monday, and he proved it by writing them out on a piece of paper. 

Around the library other students played games, calculated their hat size using pi or searched the Internet for answers to pi trivia, answering questions such as "What is the name of the person who holds the world record for memorizing the most digits of pi?"

The events were organized by math teacher Donna Fix, who has wanted to host a Pi Day for the past two years, but March 14 fell on a weekend both years. She said she wants students to learn the importance of math. 

"High school students are kids, too," she said. "We have it make math fun otherwise they think it's a four-letter word."