Where's Marty? Heading Back To School For (What Else?) Pi Day

Hi everyone!

Monday was back-to-school day for Marty, and off to Glen Burnie Park Elementary School where "Pi Day" celebrations were in full swing. "Pi Day" is March 14th, 3-14. And 3.14 is what Pi is all about.

Everywhere was decorated with the  Pi symbol π. (For those of you who like to know such things, to get the Pi symbol typed, engage the number lock on your keyboard, then hold down the "Alt" and type 227 and there you have it. π !)

Teachers were decked out. Kids were decked out. And the lesson of the day we find from a Google search that got me to Scientific American's discussion of π, which describes Pi as  "the ratio of the circumference of any circle to the diameter of that circle. Regardless of the circle's size the ratio will always equal π."

But we're not done yet. For those of you who like to know such things, "π is an irrational number, meaning that its decimal form neither ends like ¼=0.25 nor becomes repetitive like 1/6=0.1666666." So, π=3.141592653589793328, and it just goes on.

Frankly, all I could think about on the air was a pizza, a pie or a basketball 'cause it is "March Madness." But all are round and fit the definition, which brings us back to the decked-out school.

The principal and two teachers told me that being able to have fun occasionally can bring useful interest to something like a deep math thought. That's the art of teaching in 2022, and I am behind that 1000%. If the medicine taste good, the kid will take it (adults too).

Later today in a trivia contest between the teachers, one of those professionals will be chosen to get hit with a pie by a student. And will gladly take that circle to the face! Thank you Glen Burnie Park Elementary, you were GREAT hosts!

Marty B!