We're not sure how this crazy idea started, or who even thought of it for that matter! All we know is that we have never seen a bunch of teenagers get as excited as THIS, over something math related. And hey - that's all that matters right?!

This instructable will guide you through an awesome 24-hours of pi-related madness, at our tutoring centre,The Math Guru. After dodging some crazy unforseen potential disasters - a melting mixing bowl, cornstarch-covered floors, and a pi(e) too big to FIT IN THE OVEN (what silly math teachers/students we are!) - we finally did it! Welcome to (drum roll please)...

TREASURE (P)ISLAND!

(Shhh...Our secret plan? Win a (p)ipad to load with math apps so that all our darling students *have* to play mathy games in between tutoring sessions! GENIUS, right?!)

Step 1: And So It Begins...

It all started with a vision...math teachers *try* to be organized, right? We somehow came up with the idea of creating "Treasure (P)island," an island-themed-pi-shaped-pie. I mean, it was just too easy to come up with a multutude of ridiculous geeky math-island-related puns:

(A)RRRRRRRRRRRRR-(squared), PI-rate ship...come on!

So, we created this map as our lesson plan, aka Treasure (P)island map!

Step 2:

We realized that this was going to be a serious undertaking! So we decided that hey, tough times call for...a PARTY! We decided that we were going to throw a FULL on Pi-Day-Baking-Contest fiesta, and invite ALL of our students to participate.

Since the theme was "Treasure (P)island," each student would be invited to contribute something mathy/(pi)rate themed. The first step was obviously to create an awesome party invitation - so Shayne, our resident student-artiste, drew up some crazy whiteboard art, and an invitation was sent out to students and their parents.

Step 3: Step 1: Making the Crust

First we made the pi(e) crust...which, by the way, consisted of enough crust for FIFTEEN regular sized pies. FIFTEEN!

I would just like to point out that we constructed this insane mold out of 3 rolls of tin foil. And we forgot to measure it. Seriously, we didn't even think about it. And THEN, it wouldn't fit into the oven, so we had to 'amputate' one of the Pi legs, and reconstruct it after it was fully cooked. We're like math doctors!

(Check our our recipe card photo for more details!)

Step 4: Step 2: Making the (Very Messy) Filling

Being the ambitious mathletes we are, we decided to make a double-layered pie. We started with a layer of pumpkin filling, and then on top, created a pecan layer.

Unfortunately, I was getting a bit too excited about mixing the pecan mixture, and SOMEhow poked a GIANT hole in the bottom of the mixing bowl, which resulted in a rover of corn syrup and butter exploding onto our lovely floor. Have you ever tried to mop up corn syrup withOUT owning a mop? Bad idea.

(See our recipe card photo for details!)

Step 5: Step 3: Making the (P)island Accessories

Okay, so before the kiddies could start making crazy things, we needed to make sure that we had a rainbow of fondant options for them to play with. Well...we decided to get down and dirty and generate this rainbow ourselves!

(Fun fact: Nailpolish remover gets rid of food colouring stains - mix a bit of this with soap, and wash your hands like crazy - and poof, all gone!)

After mixing the fondant, Ben created the foundation for the (p)island: The ocean. He took a giant bulletin board, covered it in foil, and used a hammer and nails to put the whole thing together. What a superstar!

Then, we mixed 10 packets of blue and green jello together, and used pi-shaped ice cubes instead of water - no big deal!

(Fun fact #2: We tried to put candy fish IN the jello so that it would look like an ocean with fish in it, BUT, guess what?! The acidity of the candy combusted with the whole Jello-process, so the Jello didn't solidify! So GUESS who had to go out and get TEN MORE packets of Jello? Right. Reading instructions is always a good idea....oopsie!)

(See our attached recipe card photo for more details!)

Step 6: Step 4: Party Time!

Sprinkles, ju jubes, jellybeans, FONDANT, OH MY!

Our students rock. The whole day was filled with students, friends, family - hey, even my own parents showed up! Everyone contributed something awesome to our creation. Volcanoes, palm trees, sailboats, a treasure chest...even a sunburnt man eating an ice cream cone! The creativity of these kids brought salty-sweet fondant-tears to our eyes.