For MS math scholars, it’s easy as pi

It’s not just pi in the sky when it comes to celebrating the annual occurrence of the pi-like date of 3.14. For Greenhills middle schoolers, there was also pie in the face.

That was definitely the highlight of a middle school assembly Friday that celebrated the achievements of Greenhills students who participated in the MathCounts and American Math Competition’s AMC 8 and events.

Because he memorized 319 digits of a number whose decimal representation never ends, sixth-grader Anvit Rao earned the honor of delivering a pie to the face of the teacher of his choice. The winner of that dubious honor was Amanda Harper who, let it be noted, is not even a math teacher.

Members of the Math Club did a brief presentation on the history, uses, and meaning of one of mathematics’ most-recognized, and perhaps least-appreciated, numbers.

Recognition also was extended to students for their efforts in the MathCounts program. Ten students represented Greenhills at a recent regional competition, with a four-person team—Zayd Mian, Bharath Yalavarthi, and sixth-graders Alan Zhu and Derek Zhu—finishing in third place.

Finally, three Greenhills students—including the two sixth graders, Alan Zhu and Derek Zhu, along with Leo Fried—competed individually, and were among only five students who advanced from to the state competition, held at Western Michigan University.

All three ended up scoring in the top 20 percent.