Our school celebrates Pi Day March 14, and we wanted to generate interest in Math and promote the importance of the constant π. I was on the decor and style team, and our job was to build excitement for the event by decorating the campus with mathematical-themed visuals. We created signs, posters, and imaginative decor around π in an effort to display the idea of enjoying the fun side of Math. The goal was to make Math feel exciting and obtainable by everyone!

LO1 – Recognise own strengths and develop areas for improvement
As I joined the Pi Day decoration team, I was able to recognise my own strengths such as creativity and design. I enjoyed being able to use my artistic strengths to create visually engaging posters and designs that showcased how exciting the field of mathematics can be in a fun way. I also recognised areas where I could make improvements, such as learning way to help make my designs more accessible for different age groups and also improving my ability to plan the layout of large-scale decorations. Overall, my experience gave me a better understanding of how my strengths can benefit me as well as the ability to set clear goals for personal growth.

LO2 – Exhibit that challenges have been undertaken, which resulted in skills development
One of the challenges I faced on the project was working with limited resources, and making sure we got our designs completed in a short amount of time. At first, I felt defeated by the prospect of creating such a large vision with such limited amounts of supplies! I ended up developing some problem-solving skills by finding creative options, and by working with what we had on hand. It also helped me to develop my flexibility and adaptability, as we needed to adjust our ideas as project materials were not always available. I think that facing these challenges not only enhanced my prior creative abilities, but resulted in the development of skills in resourcefulness, and managing your time.

LO4 – Show perseverance and commitment in CAS experience
I was challenged with the commitment to the project when I had to manage school with the added decoration work of the project. Preparing for the event was often outside of school hours and I had to devote a considerable amount of time to ensure that we were ready for March 14th. Sometimes this was tiring, but I ensured that I was completing my part of the project work because I recognized how important I was as a part of the team. By managing my moments of stress and tiredness, I demonstrated that I was being responsible toward both my peers and the event as a whole. This was rewarding because in the end our efforts created an exciting atmosphere, shared with the school community.

LO5 – Demonstrate the skills and acknowledge the advantages of collaboration
Being a part of the Pi Day decoration team showed me first-hand the power of collaboration! Everyone offered individual ideas and insights, and together we constructed a cohesive and colorful vision for the event. I also learned to listen to other viewpoints, compromise where necessary, think in terms of my personal contributions and my teammate’s skills, and I even enjoyed myself. Even better, the team model ensured all of the work was chilled out and evenly distributed. I learned, probably for the first time, that everybody adds to the process of collaboration and gets better ideas, products, or outcomes when they use the combination of creativity and efficiency together with excitement.