Evergreen eighth-grader sets new school record in ‘Pi for Pie’ challenge

Evergreen Junior High eighth-grader Haven Bulgar set a new record for math teacher Alex Aiken’s annual pi challenge by memorizing 176 digits.

Aiken challenged students to memorize and recite pi in class to at least 30 decimal places with the tastier version of pie as a reward in celebration of Pi Day. Eighth-grader Rebecka Stockton came in second place, memorizing 110 digits. Aiken said 28 students took on and met the challenge, which was optional.

Pi is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter.

“We are currently studying the volume of cylinders, cones, and spheres … all of which have the symbol pi in the formula,” Aiken said.

In decimal form, pi is typically rounded to two decimal places, 3.14, which is why it’s celebrated on March 14, but it doesn’t end there. Pi is an irrational number.

“It’s unique that it goes on forever and doesn’t repeat,” Bulgar said.

Bulgar’s goal was to at least beat the past record of 117 digits. Stockton said she wanted to see if she could reach 100.

While the eighth-graders used different memorization techniques, both elicited a similar reaction of annoyance, particularly for family members, the two joked.

“I grouped them into four digits at a time,” Bulgar said, which he would often recite in addition to going over the numbers in his head.

“I’ll probably remember it for awhile,” Bulgar said.

Stockton said she watched videos online and found a song to help people memorize pi up to 100 digits and made her own lyrics, never passing up an opportunity to sing it during car rides home from school.

Although the challenge has ended, Stockton wants more pi in her life.

“I want to go to 150,” she said. “I don’t know if I can, but I want to try.”

According to Guinness World Records, the most accurate value of pi is 50 trillion digits, which was achieved by American Timothy Mullican in January 2020.

Aiken said he hoped the challenge might spark interest in other schools to do something similar that possibly could culminate in a multi-school competition.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.