Zumba-ing for a Cause at Clark Lane Middle School

After the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Clark Lane Middle School students Sydney Tabor and Jayne Darras knew they had to do something.

“It was just so disturbing,” Tabor said. “They were kids younger than us.”

So they did. They begged and pleaded for money for the Sandy Hook School Memorial Scholarship Fund at UConn at sporting events and during lunch, raising more then $450. And Friday night, the two held a Zumbathon at Clark Lane Middle School, an event they organized themselves.

“I think they are just really two great kids who really get excited doing stuff like this, so it makes it fun,” said Sydney’s mom, Tamara Tabor.

The event proved successful, with more than 40 people – all of which paid to participate – coming out. All the money raised from the event went to the Sandy Hook scholarship fund.

Not that this is anything new for the two girls. Both have done several fundraisers in the past and plan to continue to give back to the community.

“If we teach our kids nothing else, we want them to be contributing members of society,” said Jayne’s mom, Sarah Darras. “And I think the key to a successful society at large is philanthropy, at any level.”

The Event

Sarah Darras works at UConn, so the girls had a connection to get money donated for the Sandy Hook School Memorial Scholarship Fund. And the two knew a Zumba instructor, Kim Thompson, who volunteered her time, along with two other instructors.

The event ran from 7 to 9:30 Friday night, with people paying to participate. While the overall amount of money might pale in comparison to the amount in the scholarship fund, the lesson will last forever, Sarah Darras said.

“Them doing this, in the huge scheme of the $8 million that the Sandy Hook (scholarship fund) has, is really nothing,” she said. “But what it is teaching them is priceless.”