Local Catholic Schools math competition to be held March 14 at Blessed Sacrament School, with Pi Day events to follow

(SAVANNAH) March 14, 2011 – You might not remember any of the formulae you had to use it in, but you probably remember the name and maybe even the symbol: Pi, or 3.14159. It is mathematics’ equivalent to a rock star, popping up in popular culture and used in many formulae from mathematics, science and engineering.

Blessed Sacrament is celebrating Pi day March 14 (3.14) starting at 8:30 a.m. and lasting until noon.

Blessed Sacrament School will host a math competition in the gym with students from St. James, St. Francis Cabrini, and St. Peter’s Catholic schools as well as BSS. It will be a Jeopardy board with math questions of different categories, such as geometry, word problems, etc.

The math competition will begin at 8:30 a.m. in the BSS gym. Pi events and activities will be held 9:45-noon in the middle school (above the church).

Pior π is a mathematical constant whose value is the ratio of any circle’s circumference to its diameter. (This is the same value as the ratio of a circle's area to the square of its radius.) It is approximately equal to 3.14159 in the usual decimal notation. Pi is one of the most important mathematical and physical constants: many formulae from mathematics, science and engineering involve π.

The middle school BSS students will visit several stations that include everything from math computation questions to a Hula Hoop contest. Students will bring in circular desserts.

To decorate, the students cut the Greek symbol for pi out of poster board, then wrote the value for pi (3.14)all over the cutout. They also decorated tablecloths by drawing the value all over tablecloths.

“It’s great to be able to make math fun,” said middle school math teacher Julia DeLoach. “They’re learning so much while they’re enjoying themselves.”

In one station’s math question, the children have to figure out the following question (using pi, of course): A man has a yard that measures 40 feet by 60 feet.  He will install a circular swimming pool in the middle of the yard that has a diameter of 30 feet.  What is the area of the yard where he will need to lay sod after the swimming pool is installed?

Blessed Sacrament School was founded in 1939 with two classrooms and three sisters of Mercy as the first faculty. Today there are two sections of each grade level from Pre-K through 8th grades with a current enrollment of approximately 425 students. The school offers a rigorous, faith-based academic program and maintains small class sizes. Blessed Sacrament is part of the Catholic Diocese of Savannah and has received accreditation by both SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) and FCC (Florida Catholic Conference).

BSS is located at 1003 East Victory Drive in Savannah (the front door faces 44^thStreet).

Call: BSS, 356-6987. School media contact: Assistant Principal Helen Willoughby