Let Them Eat Pie!

St. Eugene School and Sacred Heart Grade School in Yonkers, and Our Lady of Victory School (OLV) in Mount Vernon – all Central Westchester Regional Catholic Schools – recently challenged students to sharpen their math skills by participating in a Pi-Day math challenge. This “thon-style” fundraising event was open to students in preschool through grade eight and took place from February 22 to March 15. Students enlisted the support of friends and family as sponsors who would donate to students’ schools based on the number of math worksheets and tests successfully completed by the children they sponsored. Each of the participating schools set a fundraising goal of $15,000 for the purchase of student Chromebooks.

While the friendly competition among the three schools helped generate a lot of enthusiasm, students were further incentivized by small gifts such as book marks, gift cards, and “No Uniform Today” (N.U.T.), cards. Teachers also created additional incentives. At St. Eugene’s School, for example, some of the additional rewards included a Disney themed classroom party, a movie and popcorn party, and a “teacher for a day” opportunity for top fundraisers.

This inaugural event was a great success, raising a little more than $60,000 in total from some 1,600 sponsors. St. Eugene School came out on top, more than doubling its fundraising goal. To celebrate the event’s success, Ms. Joan Fox, principal of St. Eugene School, Ms. Tracy Strub, principal of Sacred Heart Grade School, and Ms. Helena Castilla-Byrne, principal of Our Lady of Victory School each concluded the fundraiser with a pie throwing event (streamed live), at which they literally “took it on the chin” for their students. Much whipped cream was had by all.

Annually, Pi Day is celebrated on March 14 (3/14) around the world. Pi (Greek letter “π”) is the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constant — the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter — which is approximately 3.14159.

Serving the community of Mount Vernon since 1962, Our Lady of Victory School offers an academically rigorous, faith-based education in a structured, nurturing and safe environment from grades PreK to grade eight.

St. Eugene School, Sacred Heart Grade School and Our Lady of Victory School belong to the Archdiocese of New York’s Central Westchester Catholic School Region which serves some 6,000 students in 20 schools throughout the county. To learn more visit www.catholicschoolsny.org