Happy Pi Day from BEAM!

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT PI?

Maybe you would say it’s a handy constant, helpful when trying to figure out a circumference or area. Maybe you’d say it’s irrational and transcendental. Maybe you’d say you know the first five digits, 3.1415 (or maybe you even know the first 10 or 15 or more). But whether you know the first 5 or the first 5000 digits, there are a lot of questions we can ask about the digits that make up pi. 

We could wonder about whether a specific string of digits (such as your birthday) exists somewhere in pi or even if all possible finite strings of digits appear somewhere in pi. 

It's a BEAM First!

In January, Tanasia Gordon accomplished another BEAM first by becoming the first BEAM Alumna to join our full-time staff as our new Enrichment Coordinator. A recent graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology, Tanasia will be advising 8th-12th graders on high school admissions, applications to other summer STEM programs, and more.

Congratulations BEAM NYC 9th Graders!

Each year, New York City’s rising freshman apply to high school, and last year was a year unlike any other.

The high school admissions process in New York City marks a pivotal step in students’ academic careers. Unlike in most other school districts, all New York City public school students must apply to high school. What school a student attends determines a lot about what opportunities they will have, including opportunities to study advanced math and science that will prepare them to study STEM in college. Consider, for example, that most high schools in New York City don’t offer precalculus, much less calculus. BEAM works with students and families to ensure that students can successfully navigate the application process and apply to high schools with strong course offerings and good support, which open the most doors to a successful STEM career.

A Special Summer Wrapped!

This summer was unlike any other, and we were so excited to welcome nearly 300 BEAM students to our in-person programs! While we are tremendously proud of the work we did in 2020 and 2021 to run summer programs online, our experience this summer reaffirmed that in-person programs create invaluable experiences and memories for our students.

...And Now for Some Math

To recap from the newsletter:

You are eating a special candy bar. You and a friend each take turns eating squares of blue, pink, and green candy starting from the left and moving right. You can bite off as many squares as you want, so long as they’re all the same color of candy. So, for example, your first move could be to bite off 1, 2, 3, or 4 squares. The winner is the person who eats the green square of candy (which is extra delicious!)…