On Monday, Mar. 14, Irvington’s Math Club and Computer Science club collaborated to host a Pi Day-themed event. The two clubs held a pi-themed jeopardy activity, marking the first in-person Irvington Pi Day event in three years. Ultimately, it was successful, attracting dozens of people and resulting in the distribution of an enormous amount of prize candy. 

The event was organized as a standard game of jeopardy, but with a π-themed twist. There were questions in six categories, including “pi-storical figures” and “computer pi-ence”, and each question’s answer included the substring “pi” within it (for example, “looping” and “L’Hopital”). The questions were primarily math-based, but a significant minority were about Computer Science. The room was divided into multiple teams, but anyone could answer any question by raising their hand first. Each team was also tossed prodigious quantities of pumpkin pie flavored candy upon getting the correct answer. Sadly, due to Covid-19 related restrictions, there was no pie on offer as there was in previous years – though that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of participants.

“I don’t think we had [high] expectations,” noted Ananya Kulshrestha (12), President of Math Club. “We knew that close friends would show up, but more people showed up, like underclassmen, which was good to see.”

Indeed, the attendance was robust, and people seemed to be enjoying themselves. Most stayed until the end of lunch. There was a large amount of candy remaining at the end of the activity, which Math Club Co-President Dhruv Gupta (11) said he would give out to his 5th-period class. 

“I thought it was a nice effort by the two clubs to create a joint event, although I would say that the questions were far too CS themed for my taste,” said Patrick Li (12), an attendee. “It brought out a lot more people than I was expecting. I’d say that [playing Jeopardy] was the best possible choice given the circumstances.”

All told, the return to an in-person Pi Day activity was a successful one. Though pie has not yet reappeared, the spirit of the occasion – a day for math lovers to connect and celebrate – remains firmly intact.