Record-smashing maths teacher recites 4,949 digits of Pi from memory as Park Community School marks World Pi Day

Park Community School’s Ilyas Warshow recited 4,949 digits of Pi in a mere 17 minutes - an unofficial record.

The teacher’s performance was one of several fun activities hosted at the school to mark World Pi Day, which is held annually on March 14 to reflect the first three digits of Pi (3.14).

Ilyas said: ‘At Park Community, we make these days into big events for the kids.

‘The goal is to get them more interested in anything - being curious about things. It’s all about finding something you love.

‘It does seem to generate excitement about a subject.’

Activities included children calculating the circumference of cookies and memorising the first 20 digits of Pi.

Ilyas, who has been teaching at the school for nearly two years, added: ‘Pi jokes were hidden all round the school, Dad jokes.

‘If they got the card and took it to the teacher they got a reward. There were lots of students hunting for the jokes at the beginning of school.

‘It was definitely a good way to get the kids excited about the subject. They were really loving it, really interested.’

The 24-year-old maths teacher began committing Pi to memory about a year ago.

He said: ‘I put loads of work into it.

‘I never realised I’d be good at it.

‘I like numbers and I’m quite an obsessive person, and I became really addicted to it.’

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Ilyas developed different methods for revision, including creating patterns, looking for differences, and breaking the numbers into chunks like phone numbers.

After doing some research into memorisation, he found out that he was more likely to remember lists of numbers if they were connected in his mind to something else.

Ilyas had been hoping to recite 5,000 digits of Pi in the fastest time but made an error on the 4,950th number - although he still smashed the record, according to the results recorded in the Pi World Rankings list.

He said: ‘I was quite annoyed but realistically it was a pretty good performance, so I was pretty happy.

‘It’s about finding repetition, it’s about finding your flow.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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