“3.1415926535897…,” recited South Pasadena Middle School student Krishna Mocherla, and with that won the Pi Recitation contest in the 11th Annual Pi Day celebration.
Pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. March 14 is recognized internationally as Pi Day, since 3.14 both begins the number pi and abbreviates the date.
The math department of SPMS hosted three events to celebrate the day. In the Pi Recitation contest, Krishna was able to recite from memory the first 402 random digits of pi. Patrick Gan took second place with 260 digits and Ryan Nakakura captured third with 252 digits. Twenty students memorized 25 or more digits and each was awarded a small pie, courtesy of Jim’s Bakery in Monterey Park.
In the Pie Eating contest, the team of student Arash Alimouri and teacher Matt Stahl ate two pies in record time, eking out a victory over the team of Tori Kause and teacher Lance Pearcy. Nathan Lee and teacher Todd Brown took third place. Pies were generously supplied by Wild Thyme.
In Circle Drawing, students were judged on their ability to draw a perfect circle freehand, given a certain diameter. Melody Sue captured first place with a nearly perfect 10-inch circle. Yee-Lum Mak ranked second, and the judges placed Sarah Oh third. Each student received a pie from Wild Thyme.
Leadership students Michelle Lam, Brianna Loo, Gloria Kim, Chloe Acebo, Jane Lu, Kimberlin Low, Hannah Chong, and teachers Dean McCoy, Katy Tran, and Paula Warner judged the contests.
