The Black and White

by Michaela Conrady

The phrase “You can’t spell Pilgrim without pi” might ring a bell for any current students or alumni. Since, for over a decade, Pilgrim has participated in a unique tradition of celebrating March 14th–Pi day. The annual tradition of making a day out of pi, a number frequently shorthanded as 3.14, though it’s an infinitely long decimal. 

While some schools celebrate Pi day through various crafts, pi-based lessons, or even just by learning how pi is used in mathematics, Pilgrim takes a different approach. Pilgrims’ pi day tradition is well-loved by students and faculty alike. 

Mr. May started the celebration in 2015 to share his love of pi day with Pilgrim, and he created the 3.14 shootout. Many students also make projects, including real pies, art projects utilizing the visual of a pie or the digits of pi.

In the shoot-out, students try to sink as many 3-pointers as possible in a 31.4 second period. (The 31.4 seconds being a more achievable play on the beginning digits of pi, 3.14.) Before the date itself, the week before is spent building up to the day– one song over the announcements each morning using the word pi (or ‘pie’) to build up to the big event. In Pilgrim history, the record for 3-pointers for boys is 10, and 9 for the girls. This year, records were nearly broken as Mr.May returned to Pilgrim in his 3.14 jersey, on March 13th, 2026–pi day ‘eve’–to keep the tradition alive.

During the shoot-out, students move in and out of the gym to watch the shootout, while some students act as rebounders to keep a constant flow for those shooting 3-pointers in such close time constraints. Turning math into a vivacious student-body wide celebration, the shoot-out is filled with music and excited groups of students looking to cheer on their peers. 

This year’s shootout had 48 participants, and some last-minute participants to round off the afternoon’s event including both students and staff. Four students won the shoot-out, reaching the highest number of baskets this year:

Jack Cirelli, with nine baskets, Lia Waasilewski with six baskets, Ramon Mendez Agramonte with five baskets and Emmie Kaczmarzyk with eight baskets!

Three students who created projects on pi also won, Madeline Pettinicchio, who made an art project depicting the numbers of pi, Lilliana Crouse, with a homemade strawberry pi made up of pi digits, and Christopher O’Reilly who made a slide presentation of the history of pi.

Pilgrim’s pi day celebration may seem to be getting older, but it remains a constant source of student spirit, faculty support, creativity, and athleticism as it continues to be a demonstration of Pilgrim pride every March.