Pi Day 2023 Enjoyed by Many
It’s important to occasionally diverge from the normal curriculum and experience new things, as the best learning occurs during those times.
March 24, 2023
Carol Desoe taught students how to make tessellations.
Carol Desoe was inspired by the work of M.C. Escher.
Jennifer Wagner spoke about listening to music while running.
Jennifer Wagner went in depth into the science behind music.
Students loved the interactive aspect of Alisa Harrison’s program.
For math lovers, March 14th is a tribute to one of the most important constants in the math world: pi. On Pi Day, a total of 84 workshops were offered throughout the building. They covered a wide variety of interesting and engaging topics, intending to introduce students to mathematical and scientific enrichment that transcends the traditional curriculum.
The initiative to hold activities on Pi Day began three years ago; however, it was never followed through due to COVID shutdowns. Because of other COVID restrictions, the Pi Day activities have never reached the scale that they did on Tuesday.
“We only opened activities to the math classes. Despite this, [Pi Day in 2022] turned out to be quite successful, and we got a lot of good feedback from different people all over the building. So our main goal this year was to see how we could expand our programming for 2023,” SHS math teacher Dr. Michael Kumaresan explained.
Included in the 84 workshops were speakers from every department at SHS, such as History of Pie with Patrick Healy, Economics with Chris Paulison, and Geometry & Art with John Catania. Additionally, many talented special guest speakers brought unique insights. Some examples include Roy Krishnan, a statistician for the Toronto Raptors, Ms. Margaret Cavalluzi, who works for Motorola Inc., and Dr. Mark DeCataldo of Stony Brook University. Many former teachers also returned to SHS for Pi Day, such as Ms. Desoe, who worked at SHS for an astounding 38 years. These brilliant minds offered their expertise on a niche concept in their respective fields, giving the students some valuable and memorable experiences.
Overall, many SHS students had positive feedback about their Pi Day experiences. “The program with Ms. Johnsen [about the Golden Ratio] was very interesting because it showed how this ratio is used so commonly, and we don’t even recognize it,” Matthew Meyerson ’25 stated. “I gained a new perspective on architecture and shapes in general,” Meyerson continued.
“The [Probability and Games] program taught me that the casino always has favorable odds, which showed me why not to spend money at casinos,” Jesse Geller ’25 commented.
“The one about Rehabilitation Programs was very interesting because it is a personal interest of mine. It had a lot of new information that you don’t get from other sources. Also, the person running it was very knowledgeable on the issue,” Alexa Silverstein ’25 stated.
After such a successful day in which students found so much value, it is expected that Pi Days of this kind continue for years to come. “We’ll look to keep this going in the future,” Dr. Kumerasan confirmed. It’s important to occasionally diverge from the normal curriculum and experience new things, as the best learning occurs during those times.
