Actress Tisha Campbell-Martin, star of Lifetime’s recent drama series “The Protector,” visited Link today at the invitation of her longtime friend, Sahirah Johnson, Link’s performing arts teacher and inspired students to “do their best”.
Speaking to the entire student body, Ms. Campbell-Martin, who spent her childhood in Newark and graduated from Newark’s Arts High School, stressed the importance of working hard to achieve one’s goals. She shared her path to stardom which began at the age of 5 when she won a talent contest at Newark Symphony Hall and explained that her journey was not always easy. She encouraged students, saying, “Obstacles are part of the journey but they don’t have to stop you from reaching your goal. With hard work and perseverance, you will get there.” She added, “Sometimes you have to embrace the negative and move on until you get to where you want to be.”
At the conclusion of her remarks and after a Q&A session, students sang “Happy Birthday” to Ms. Campbell-Martin, who in turn sang it to a Link student who shares her birthday. Then Ms. Campbell Martin held a “Master Class” with both a 7th and 8th grade performing arts class, providing constructive feedback to students on their delivery of monologues. She indicated to Mrs. Paradiso after the classes that she was impressed by both Ms. Johnson’s instruction and motivation of the students as well as the students’ efforts.
Ms. Campbell-Martin is the veteran of sitcoms such as “Martin” and “My Wife and Kids,” the latter earning her the NAACP Image Award for Best Actress in a Comedy and the BET Comedy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. She lives in Los Angles with her husband Duane Martin and two children.
