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Pi Week Celebrations!

Math enthusiasts unite! With the first three significant digits of the mathematical constant 𝚷 being 3, 1 and 4 the date of March 14 is recognized around the world as ‘World 𝚷 Day” where lovers of mathematics and ‘pie’ can find common ground. With the School on holiday on March 14 this year, Shawnigan math teacher and pi enthusiast Mark Swannell turned the week before Spring Break into a Pi Week Celebration!
Shawnigan held its second annual pi recital contest on Tuesday, with students vying for the coveted Pi Recital Trophy and a chance to enter the Pi Hall of Fame located in the Craig Building. Four mathletes participated, doing their best to recall pi to the highest number of decimal places in front of a small panel of adjudicators. With the qualifying standard being 60 decimal places, the results were impressive. Tina X. ‘24 recited 80 digits, Caitlyn C. ‘26 recited 179 digits, Brady Z. ‘26 recited 220 digits and Yangchen T. ‘24 had an impressive 367 digits. These four will now have the chance to place in the official World Pi Rankings after the official Pi Day has passed, a claim any math geek would be proud of. 

The celebrations were not only for the mathematics whizzes. The Grade 8s created art inspired by the number on Monday, and the whole School got in on the fun on Thursday, when lunch included chicken pot pies, pinatas made by each House (with the winners being Strathcona and Kaye’s Houses), and a Pi Day paper chain that stretched over 50 metres. The paper chain was the result of each House being given 100 digits of pi and 10 different coloured sheets of paper, with each paper colour being coded with a digit (0-9). In the end, the completed chain had 1000 digits of pi! The power of pi was displayed on campus this week, and with so many involved in one way or another, there was no escaping this irrational number and all that it can inspire. 

Shawnigan Lake School is adhering to all COVID-19 guidelines released by the BC Ministries of Health and Education.
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