“I got involved with helping brokendown schools after I became a mom,” explains Hines, who volunteered for a reading program in Compton, Calif. “My daughter goes to great schools in Los Angeles with wonderful parents and teachers, and I started thinking about how other kids are not so lucky. So I reached out to another school in the area that was in tough shape.” She chose Compton’s Carver Elementary School. Principal Jacqueline Sanderlin explained that the school desperately needed a paint job, new playground and refurbished classrooms. In short, the whole place needed a facelift. “I worked for two years to transform that school,” Hines recalls. “I enlisted teachers, students and school board members to help. We refurbished the playground, added flowers and a library and changed the cafeteria. We made the school feel different,” she says. “All of a sudden students’ test scores improved and property values around the school increased. New teachers now want to work there, and the kids are so grateful.” School board members were so impressed by Sanderlin’s work with Hines’ project that they asked her to become principal of
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My family is crazy and loud. We go on hayrides in Sorrento at the holidays and sing Christmas carols. We host poker tournaments and work out on the treadmill at the same time. We are all nuts. – Cheryl Hines
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est to her heart. The hour-long reality TV series, of which she is the executive producer, tells the tales of communities uniting to renovate their crumbling schools, with cameras following students, teachers and parents. It’s been picked up by NBC and premieres this fall on Fridays at 8 p.m.
Foster Elementary, another underperforming school in Compton. She and Hines worked similar magic there, spending the summer repainting and renovating. “Without Cheryl Hines, I would never have been able to remodel Carver,” says Sanderlin. “We connected on this project and got financial assistance from her celebrity friends. They helped me get computers, staff the lounge and both the science and music rooms.” She adds, “Cheryl is a humanitarian who cares about kids. She has amazing vision for low socioeconomic areas and spends her time improving them when she could be making money for herself in other areas. She is a remarkable person.” She’s a great mom, too. When she and Young hit the road for business or pleasure,
daughter Catherine comes along. The three have visited the Turks and Caicos Islands, New York City and Paris. Their frequent family trips to Sorrento often span more than two weeks at a time.
Top Left: Cheryl Hines and daughter, Catherine Young.
“Catherine is well-traveled and a good kid,” says Hines. “We spend as much time together as possible and love to visit family.” She’ll also continue to spend ample time with her work family, filming episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Other projects include more School Pride episodes and, she hopes, a future project with English novelist Nick Hornby (High Anxiety), whom she greatly admires. “Nick is a work fantasy for me, and I hope to unveil some projects with him soon,” she says. “I am on an exciting journey and intend to continue the ride.” O August 2010
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