On March 14th, I’m giving a presentation at the Washington Corrections Centre, located in Shelton Washington, coinciding with international Pi Day.* Pi Day is being recognized at the WCC and several other US prisons in affiliation with the Prison Mathematics Project, or PMP. Pi Day events at the WCC will include several presentations to inmates who are participating in the PMP or are interested in learning more about the project.

The main thrust of the PMP, which started in 2020, is to connect incarcerated learners who are dedicated to change with mentors who support and encourage their interest in mathematics. Through the work of PMP volunteers, there are now many incarcerated learners working with mentors beyond prison walls.

Another key aspect of the PMP is the publication of a 25-30 pp newsletter that circulates in paper copies and online. The paper is generally made available by individual institutions to inmates when requested.

Since 2023, I have written a column for the PMP newsletter, ‘Learn Your Way,’ in which I have sought to guide and motivate inmates seeking to improve their math skills. My Pi Day presentation, the audience of which will mainly be prisoners, will reflect the tenor of my column. Though I’ve not presented in a prison before, I am looking forward to this event and interacting with the audience. Assuredly, many prison inmates, like me, tally wide-ranging math experiences in their education – from good to traumatizing – and I hope my presentation and column may help them, no matter where they may be on their learning journeys.

The PMP was founded by inmate Christopher Havens, who is serving time in WCC for murder. Christoper’s story of how he came to be engaged in math and subsequently found the PMP, is remarkable for the tenacity and resilience he manifest in the face of incredible challenges. His story was the subject of my column in ‘Iteration 7’ of the newsletter, which may be downloaded from PMP website.

I also must mention how ably assisted and inspired I’ve been with the help of friend, neighbour, writer and PMP Editor, Claire Finlayson. Claire, who encouraged me to step up and offer a Pi-Day presentation this year (she did one in 2024), jumped in to help ground the newsletter with firm guidance in 2020, after being contacted by Christopher Havens. That’s a story best told by Claire.

And one last thing: Pi Day is also recognized by the serving of pie and I’m told our event at the WCC will feature a choice of varieties, to be served with ice cream!

(* For those of you who have forgotten: Pi (often represented by the lower-case Greek letter π), one of the most well-known mathematical constants, is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter.  For any circle, the distance around the edge is a little more than three times the distance across. The concept of Pi has interested the curious for 4,000 years. In its shortest approximation, Pi is rounded off to 3.14, hence its celebration on March 14th [March being the 3rd month of a calendar year]. There, now you know).