Pi-Day at Sayville Middle School – In Your Face For A Worthy Cause

Pi-Day at Sayville Middle School – In Your Face For A Worthy Cause

Again this year, Sayville Middle School Math Department celebrated the infinite and irrational number Pi (π) on the official Pi-Day (March 14)* with Math activities for their Seventh-graders. The fun included “a goose-chase scavenger hunt all about Pi,” said Frank DeCicco and Kim Pacia.“Students completed tasks that had anything and everything to do with circles.  Whether it was finding a word that had ‘Pi’ in it, reciting the first few digits of Pi with another teacher in the building, wishing a class Happy Pi-Day, or even laying on the floor to recreate the symbol for Pi, students went around the building, celebrating Pi-Day.”

New this year was the Pi-day pie-in-the-face event. "As a way to get the entire school involved to celebrate,” Mr. DeCicco continued, “we held a Pi the Teacher Fundraiser where all the money raised will go to the Sayville Food Pantry and Soup Kitchen.  Students bought raffle tickets to take part in the event…. With each ticket bought, students were given the chance to pie a teacher of their choosing.” The students chose their targets by putting a ticket into the lunch bag bearing the photo of the faculty member. Seventeen “rational” faculty members bravely volunteered to be pied during lunch periods in the Commons.

On March 14, the Pi the Teacher Fundraiser spectacle drew the lunch crowds to watch. Lightweight aluminum pie plates were loaded with whipped cream as the faculty prepared like athletes for the event. While many donned goggles, shower caps, and clear plastic ponchos, some braver souls waived the poncho-and-shower-cap protection altogether to face their pie destiny.

One at a time, the name of a student “Pie-er” was picked from the bag for a specific teacher or principal, and the spectators clapped with anticipation and enthusiasm for the task. As the student took hold of the pie, the roar of the cheering crowd was deafening, but so too was the explosion of laughter that followed after each pie was smeared with deliberate care in the face of the “Pie-ee.”  The bout ended with the Pie-pairs posing for pictures.

Principal Dr. Joe Castoro, himself a “Pie-ee,” thanked the Middle School community “for helping today be a memorable Pi Day experience for our students…. Huge shout out to our teacher participants: Ms. Loscalzo, Ms. Termotto, Ms. Toth, Ms. Carbone, Ms. Amella, Mr. Goodman, Ms. Cacciatore, Mr. Finley, Ms. Lambiase, Mr. Geiser, Ms. Wrede, Ms. Voyack, Ms. Krauth, and Mr. Decker. All were fearless as they were pied! Special thanks for Mr. DeCicco for suggesting, organizing, and recruiting everyone. In case you did not know, March is Middle Level Education month. What could be more middle school than being pied for charity?”

When the counting was all done, the Pi the Teacher Fundraiser collected about $840 for the Sayville Pantry and Sayville Soup Kitchen. Now that’s a generous piece of pie!

*Pi (π) Day—March 14—was founded in 1988 by physicist Larry Shaw at the Exploratorium and, according to the Exploratorium Website, has “become an international holiday, celebrated live and online all around the world. The numbers in the date (3/14) match the first three digits of the mathematical constant Pi (π).”