A Northridge Jewish day school teacher has received a $5,000 grant from former talk-show host Jenny Jones to create an 80-foot-long mural along the Los Angeles River as part of a beautification project.
Kathy Reynolds, who teaches science to fifth- and seventh-graders at Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School, is the latest of more than 85 people — out of 15,000 who’ve applied — to be awarded financial help through “Jenny’s Heroes,” a program that aims to give away $2 million of the celebrity’s money toward good works.
In this case, it was a project that hit close to home for Jones, a Sherman Oaks resident who had a TV talk show for 12 years.
“I walk along the river. I’ve lived in the Valley for years,” she said after announcing the award Oct. 14. “I think we forget we have a river because there’s no water in it so much of the time. It could look so much better.”
The money will go toward materials for the mural, which will be accompanied by explanatory signs. Done in conjunction with students and community partners, one portion will reflect the river’s journey from the mountains to the sea and the need to keep it clean. Reynolds said another element will be the Los Angeles River’s “sister river” relationship with the Yarkon River in Israel, which is what got her interested in the river in the first place.
It’s all part of a larger effort in which students at the school have adopted a 1.5-mile stretch of the river. Each month, a group of students tests the water, removes invasive plants and battles the mountains of trash that accumulate, Reynolds said.
“The entire foundation of our school is to give back, tikkun olam,” she said, referring to the Jewish concept of repairing the world. This project, she felt, “encompasses many, many communities and brings us together. … Just as the river is a conduit from the mountains to the sea, we’re the conduit … to bridge these communities together.”
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