A Pi in the face for Gurnee educators

Abby Christy stepped up with a plate full of whipped cream pie, carefully selected a teacher and fired away Tuesday as she and her classmates found a fun and unusual way to celebrate Pi Day at Woodland Middle School in Gurnee.

To mark the day - an annual celebration of math and especially the mathematical equation known as Pi - the school's math department organized the event. The 25 students who memorized the most digits of Pi - which begins 3.14, hence the March 14 celebration - had an opportunity to throw a pie at a staff member before school Tuesday morning.

"The students have been working very hard to learn the digits of Pi," which is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, said Woodland math teacher Kris Frisby. "All the other classrooms will be working on different activities today measuring the circumference and comparing it to the diameter."

This year, 6th grader William Hickey memorized 321 digits of Pi. Sixth grader Eunice Kim knew 310 digits and 7th grader Shelly Manila memorized 261.