Pamela Fordham is a teacher at Amherst Central High School.  Her parents, also career educators, moved to Western New York when Pam was two, and the Western New York community began the “village work” of making her into a teacher.  Pam’s first taught 7th and 8th grade English, theatre and public speaking at Luther Jackson Academy in Fairfax County Virginia, where many of her students were English language learners. As a teacher in the Buffalo Public School district, Pam taught at City Honors, Hutchinson Central Technical High School, Seneca Vocational High School, and Frank Sedita School #38.  While at Hutch Tech, she taught A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, and subsequently worked with a group of enthusiastic students to perform the play at several schools in the district. In 1996 Pam joined the English Department at Amherst High School. Throughout the past twenty-three years, Amherst High School has continued to be a place where Pam participates in the work of developing life-long lovers of learning.  She is most grateful to have been able to collaborate with her colleagues in many different capacities, ranging from co-editing the newsletter of the Amherst Education Association to co-advising clubs, like the Cultural Unity Club.  In 2006, with the support of several colleagues, Pam started Covenant in Action (C.I.A), a club for African American students. The club holds weekly meetings and activities during the school year designed to cultivate strong leaders and to support students by offering a space in which to share and interpret experiences.  One of the most memorable initiatives was the Put Your Best Face Forward Photo Gallery during Black History Month in 2018.  Pam and school counselor, Kristi Scalzo worked with students to recreate photographs of iconic African Americans.  The gallery was featured on the local news and had over 8000 views on Facebook.  Pam created and has taught Race in America, an elective at Amherst High School for more than ten years.  The course examines the role that race has played and continues to play in the various facets of our American lives.  The class requires students to complete several projects to reflect their learning and insight on a variety of topics related to race in America.  In 2012, Pam was invited to speak about the course and the club at “Celebrating Women: A Youth and Adult Empowerment Workshop” at the International Civil Rights Center and Museum in Greensboro, North Carolina.  Pam has published articles, reviews and essays in the Afro American Historical Association’s Journal of Afro-American History, and the Alert of the Amherst Education Association. She also compiled a collection of her own poetry and essays in Woman for her daughter in 2008, which was adapted into a play.