Pi Day

Seneca Grade School/Nemaha Valley Junior High Celebrates Pi Day
What’s so special about March 14? It’s a great day to celebrate math. Since the digits in that date are also the same as the first three digits in the number pi, (3.14). Students at Seneca Grade School and Nemaha Valley Junior High participated in fun mathematical activities to celebrate “Pi Day”. “Pi Day” was celebrated on March 19 after spring break.
The day began with students in grades 6-8 making fruit pies with assistance from Cleta Renyer, Luella Lewis, Ruth Swart, Sharon Schmelzle, Merle Anne Bernasek, Nancy Swart, Bernice Nordhus, Joan Ward, Cathy Holthaus, Nancy McKernan, Kim Henry, Bea Lechner, and Kay Kuckelman; grandmothers and mothers of some of the students. The students sold the pies to raise money for Julie Glissman for medical expenses. The pie sale raised around $500. Students in grades K-5 made other kinds of pies or tarts in their classrooms with their teachers.

The eighth grade students were in charge of the activities in the classrooms after lunch. Students learned hands-on by laying out the concept of pi using hula hoops and shoes, and another activity involved a parachute. They continued to learn about pi with an activity to help them understand the relationship between circumference and diameter of a circle by using string and bubbles. Through these activities, students discovered that the ratio of circumference to diameter is a little over 3, (3.14). The eighth grade students also face-painted phrases such as “Cutie pi”, “I love pi”, and “Sweetie pi” on the younger students. Other activities included a game of “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, using concepts that involve pi, a measuring activity with tape, and a graphing activity.
With the help of Mrs. Scism, the grammar teacher, students made up pi jingles and the rest of the student body voted on their favorite jingle. These jingles can be heard by viewing the school webstie at www.usd442.org.
Lastly a contest was held to see who would be the top three eighth graders to receive a pie in the face. Students voted on the eighth graders by bringing in pennies or other forms of money. The three eighth graders with the most votes were Jill Swart, Shelton Griffith, and Jenae Winkler. The penny contest raised over $100.
This was the sixth year that “Pi Day” was celebrated at our school. A big thanks goes out to all who donated supplies for the pies, for the pie making and baking assistants, and those who purchased pies. The celebration was a successful, creative learning experience for all involved.