Our staff person of the month comes from our English Department, Ms. Samira Pigford.  Ms. Pigford was born and raised in Irvington, New Jersey.  She received her BA in English Literature from Wellesley College (which I’m very proud to say, Hillary Clinton also graduated!). She started teaching shortly after. Although this isn’t her first experience in a Newark public school, she loves working here at East Side and especially loves the sophomore class. She has worked at East Side for the past 5 years and her favorite part is watching students fall in love with the dystopian theme. Her favorite author is Shakespeare. About two years ago, Ms. Pigford and Ms. Headley started their annual class production of William Shakespeare’s Othello, and that has become her favorite time of year. Being able to go into the park and run lines and put on the absolute best performances of Othello makes this job truly rewarding. She looks forward to another valuable year and helping another class capture their love of reading and writing.  So, congratulations to Ms. Pigford for being selected our Staff Person of the Month.