Chippewa Falls (WQOW) - A local high school student has memorized
one thousand things, and wrote them correctly, one after the other.
This is based on the math constant
called Pi, which has a value of 3.14, but goes on and on and on. Pi is celebrated March 14th, and a
McDonell student had a unique way of celebrating.
Even though it may not have been as
easy as pie, senior John Polus breathes a sigh of relief, after biting off a
slice some might think was too big to chew.
"I wrote down and memorized one thousand
digits of Pi, all in the right order," says Polus.
McDonell Central
Catholic High
School math teacher, Tony Reiter, says, "I was
following along with a sheet because I certainly can't do it.
Each year students at McDonell High School celebrate Pi Day in his math
class.
"My math teacher
has a plaque in the back of his room and the record was 128, so I had to beat
the record. So the first year I went for 500," says Polus.
Reiter
says, "He did that correctly and then as a joke I said, well if you can do
500, you can do a 1,000. He said, "Sure, why not?""
Polus says, "I've
got a system where I take all of the numbers and then translate them into
letters.
John says hard work, determination,
and problem solving are just a few of the practical applications of Pi. Oh, and
asking out his prom date.
Polus says, "I
wrote a program where I found certain words in Pi with my system, and then it
just displayed on the board, "Gabby will you go to prom with me?" Gabby said yes.
It may be years before another
brilliant brain bags the title. "If somebody comes
along that is determined to do it, I've already let the cat out of the bag
telling you my system. So, you just have to find somebody as crazy enough as I
am," says Polus.
Polus says after graduation this year
he'll be studying at St.Thomas. But he won't be studying as a mathematician;
instead he says he'll be going into the seminary.
