‘Pi Day’ to raise a toast to cable network Nickelodeon

A tribute to the Nickelodeon cable network will be front and center when “Pi Day” meets the “Big 2.0” (its 20th anniversary) on Thursday, March 12, from  6 to 7:30 p.m., in McEwen Hall Room 209.

“The theme this year is ‘Pi’ ckelodeon, where we plan to pay and play homage to all things Nickelodeon,” Department of Mathematical Sciences Professor Keary Howard said.

Teams of four-to-six students will compete for t-shirts – each sporting the Pi Day theme – that Dr. Howard, who coordinates the Mathematics Education program, says “money can’t buy” and a chance to win the coveted Pi Cup in the event’s 20th year.

In SpongeBob Sing Along, teams will create unique math lyrics to accompany the classic SpongeBob riff. Judges will award points on musical talent as well as dress.

The Cat-Dog Two-Legged Race will feature two-person teams scurrying to the dogpile to retrieve/solve/return their solution. Speed and mathematical agility will move contestants up the leaderboard.

Nick and Night Team Kahoot will present Nick trivia coupled with math skills to push individual team members to answer the Kahoot board of questions. Teams can also draft a member of the audience to join them in this challenge.

Legends of the Hidden Temple Best Guess will allot teams five seconds per guess to attempt to scale the heights of the temple.

The top three teams from these challenge events will advance to the finals where Patrick and SpongeBob return to help to create a blindfolded 'pi' chain. The last teammate standing procures the cup and all the glory it entails, Howard said.

Of course, it wouldn’t be “Pi Day” at Fredonia without delicious treats. “Intermission desserts and confections are a must and all are provided by faculty for team members and guests alike,” Howard said. “Dr. [Nancy] Boynton’s carrot cake/pie combo is unreal,” he added. “Our motto: ‘Why not dessert first?’”

Pi Day is free and open to students, faculty, staff and community members.

“This is our 20th consecutive celebration,” Howard remarked. “I know this because three of us in the department were hired as rookies in 2000-2001 and that was kinda our self-picked rookie hazing.”