Don’t Sweat It: Helping All Girls Cope With Stress

DANBURY — Today’s teens are very busy and under a lot of pressure from school, sports, peers, and adults. How do young women recognize stress and then cope with the many different kinds of pressure put upon them? To address those problems, the Girl Scout Council of Southwestern Connecticut is offering a day-long event that is open to all girls ages 11 to 17 – whether or not they are current Girl Scouts.

A day of self-focus called “Don’t Sweat It!” will take place Saturday, April 9, from 9 am to 3 pm, at Rogers Park Middle School, on Memorial Drive in Danbury.

Facilitated by trained leaders and college students who know first hand the kinds of stress teen women face, the event will include workshops on stress relief, self-awareness, self-esteem, self-defense, team-building skills, and conflict resolution. The focus of the day will be on the whole person: health of body and mind; awareness of the individual’s talents and personal worth; respect for self and others; and cooperation and communication with peers.

The workshops will be broken into two age groups: for ages 11-13 and age 14-17. In a fun-filled atmosphere, girls will try yoga, aromatherapy, skin care, crafts, flower arrangement, a personality quiz, and a host of other activities. Lunchtime will allow girls the opportunity to meet and share experiences with others from the area.

The day’s guest speaker will be Aly Dunne, an international actress and Vogue cover model who has been empowering girls for ten years by teaching them to appreciate their own self-worth, recognize their own beauty, build their self-confidence, and make healthy choices. Ms Dunne will talk about body-image and how to feel good about oneself.

The “Don’t Sweat It!” event will also be the official launch of Studio 2B, a flexible new program option that encourages girls to help design their activities and allows girls to participate in the proven benefits of Girl Scouting in new ways that are meaningful, relevant, and appealing to them and that utilize a series of Focus books and earned charms. The “Don’t Sweat It!” Focus book is an example of this approach to the problem of stress.

Cost for “Don’t Sweat It!” is $5 for registered Girl Scouts, $7 for non-Girl Scouts, and includes lunch, surprises and free goodies. Girl Scouts who bring a buddy (a girl new to Girl Scouts) will receive an additional surprise gift.

The event is partially underwritten by a grant from the Girl Scouts of the USA’s initiative “Take It to the Girls.”

The Council’s website, www.gscswct.org, gives additional information on the event, plus registration forms that can be downloaded. Click on Forms, then scroll down to where it says For Girls, and print out the Studio 2B Event Registration/Independent Registration form.

The Council – which serves girls ages 5 to 17 in the 15 Fairfield County communities of Bethel, Brookfield, Danbury, Darien, Greenwich, New Canaan, New Fairfield, Newtown, Norwalk, Redding, Ridgefield, Stamford, Weston, Westport, and Wilton – is looking for additional adult and college-age volunteers to be facilitators or helpers. Any interested person is encouraged to contact Rebecca Rende, girl program manager, at 203-762-5557, extension 23, or Rebecca.Rend@gscswct.org.