By JEN COWART

Moms and kids were rocking to the beat at Chester Barrows Elementary School last Monday night as the Cranston Child Opportunity Zone (COZ) Family Center program hosted families from all ten of their Title I schools at a “Movin’ with Mom” Zumba event, just in time for Mother’s Day weekend.

On hand were Robin Gervais, Lisa Milson and Grace Swinski, colleagues from the center’s Gladstone Elementary School location.

“We’re expecting about 100 people tonight,” Gervais said.

The Cranston YMCA was one of the many sponsors of the evening, bringing in Val Trainor, a YMCA Zumba instructor who kept both adults and kids energized and on their feet throughout the evening, as she played a wide variety of music, including current popular tunes and cultural music from faraway places such as Cuba and Africa.

“We’re going to visit a lot of places with our songs tonight,” Trainor said to the group.

Both moms and kids warmed up to Katy Perry and danced to Taylor Swift, and even danced the salsa as the lights decorated the ceiling and the music filled the room. Many of the tunes were interactive, asking the participants to sing a portion or mimic a particular dance move.

Neighborhood Health was on hand, manning a table filled with drinks and healthy snacks, while Swinski and Gervais handed out treats to the kids and moms – books for the students which are purchased through a COZ grant and handed out at every event, first-aid kits and pens – all as a thank you for coming.

“This was our first Zumba class, but we do something like this as a ‘Mom and Me’ event every year,” Milson said.

The COZ center also does a “Dad and Me” event each year as well, closer to Father’s Day.