Tag: 4765

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: Prince Mario-Max Inspires Westbury High Students at Espoir Youth Programs Talk

It was not an ordinary school day in the Westbury High School theater. A quiet buzz built as students took their seats — and then H.H. Dr. Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe took the stage as the featured guest of Espoir Youth Programs, Inc.’s High School Talk series.

Espoir, founded by Dr. Samarth Joseph and chaired by Dr. Clarence Wilson, Jr., built the series on a simple idea: put accomplished voices in direct conversation with young ambition. On this day, that ambition met a prince with a doctorate and three master’s degrees — and a message students could use immediately.

“You belong in every room”

“You can achieve everything you want, work hard and believe in yourself and you belong in every room!” the Prince told the cheering students. The tone was grounded, not distant: education as a lifelong pursuit, curiosity as a habit, success as something built over time.

He spoke openly about career paths and personal growth, and about mentorship — the principle at the heart of Espoir’s mission, where hope and education fuel each other.

Leaders in the room

Dr. Tahira A. DuPree Chase, Superintendent of the Westbury Union Free School District, anchored the educational side; the Prince praised her charisma and energy, calling her leadership “incredible on a town, state and international comparison.” Town Supervisor Jennifer S. DeSena brought civic weight — “a restless fighter for improvements and rights,” as he put it, “female power which is amazing.” Principal David Zimbler and his team drew warm words for loving the kids “like their own children.”

A special spark came from teacher Naomi Ruth Parisette, whom the Prince knows from his seven years hosting at New York Fashion Week — “what an inspiration for the kids.”

Two honors in one afternoon

The talk closed with ceremony. The Town of North Hempstead presented its Certificate of Recognition, Achievement and Appreciation, dated April 21, 2026 and signed by Supervisor DeSena. Then Dr. Samantha Joseph of Espoir presented a platinum celebration award for educational leadership — a striking glass sculpture in teal, silver, and gold, inscribed with thanks for visiting the children of Westbury.

Students had witnessed more than a ceremony. They had seen what happens when education, leadership, and community show up in the same room — and carry the message home.

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Originally published on Times Square Chronicles.

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe Inspires Westbury Students at Espoir Youth Programs’ High School Talk

In the Little Theater of Westbury High School in Old Westbury, an unusual quiet settled over the students. They were about to spend the afternoon with a prince — and, as it turned out, with a message built for exactly where they are in life.

Under the high patronage of Dr. Samarth Joseph, Espoir Youth Programs Inc. — an organization that supports thousands of young people — invited H.H. Dr. Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe to headline its High School Talk. The event was designed as more than a speaking engagement: a direct encounter between accomplished lives and young minds looking for direction.

A stage set for aspiration

Even the visuals made the case. Rich blue tones, ornate gold accents, and the Espoir emblem — the earth cradled in supportive hands beneath a flourishing tree — framed an afternoon about growth and global unity. Inside the theater, teachers and administrators watched with the particular interest of people who understand what an outside voice can unlock.

The prince’s arrival carried ceremony without stiffness. His talk moved steadily through the themes that matter at seventeen: personal growth, education, self-belief, resilience. The emphasis stayed practical — dedication and curiosity as tools, not abstractions — and deliberately accessible to every student in the room regardless of background or grades.

Mentorship that lands

What resonated, by all accounts, was the combination of formality and approachability. Here was a figure of international standing speaking plainly about perseverance — and students responded with the focused attention that tells you something is landing.

The afternoon also made a broader point about education itself. Events like High School Talk argue that learning extends beyond textbooks: that mentorship, real-world perspective, and cultural exchange belong inside the school walls, not outside them. For many students, a single afternoon with a global perspective can redraw the boundaries of what feels possible.

As the program closed, the energy in the room suggested the exchange had worked both ways. Students left with language for their ambitions; educators saw classroom values reinforced by a voice from well beyond the curriculum. In Old Westbury, for one afternoon, aspiration had a very distinguished accent.

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Originally published on Times Square Chronicles.

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: Why Phylicia Rashad Is the Queen of Showbiz: Stage, Screen, and a Legacy of Mentorship

Some performers shine. Phylicia Rashad shapes — the medium, the culture, and the generations coming up behind her. Her influence doesn’t just play on stage or screen; it works quietly through every young actor she’s mentored, every standard she’s set, every door her career helped open.

It started, for most of America, with Claire Huxtable. On The Cosby Show, at a time when television rarely granted Black families such depth and dignity, Rashad built a character of intelligence, warmth, and authority — professional woman, loving mother, moral center, all at once. She didn’t just play a role; she redrew what representation could look like.

A stage career of firsts

Theater gave her the historic milestone: the first Black woman to win the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play, for A Raisin in the Sun. More than a personal triumph, it was an expansion of possibility — proof, delivered with discipline and reverence for the craft, that the highest honors had room for more.

Her stage presence has always carried that signature combination: technical mastery with emotional clarity, strength with subtlety. Younger actors study it the way students study a text.

The educator

What elevates Rashad from star to institution is her devotion to teaching. As dean of the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts at Howard University, she doesn’t merely teach technique — she instills purpose, connecting students to a lineage of Black artistry and reminding them their work means something beyond fame.

Ask working actors about her and the same words recur: guiding presence, discipline, integrity, authenticity. In an industry built on trends and visibility, she represents the steadier virtues — craft, culture, community.

She shares the artistic bloodline with her sister Debbie Allen, whose dance and television work complements Rashad’s own legacy. Together they’ve helped build a cultural foundation that keeps supporting new generations.

That is the final measure of her reign: excellence achieved, then immediately put in service of others. The queen of showbiz, it turns out, spends most of her time building the kingdom’s future.

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Originally published on Times Square Chronicles.