Sandy Hook resident Katie Hazzard, a rising senior at Lauralton Hall in Milford, is offering a weekly program for eighth graders at C.H. Booth Library, starting September 15, that will share ways to "stress less," for her Girl Scout Gold Award project. m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/4090f4fa8a823a7f58-stress, for each day of the program, which runs from 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm. Interested participants can also e-mail newtownstressless@gmail.com for more information about the program or to sign up.

"Stress Less is not your average program for teens," a flyer for the program reads. "It is designed to educate eighth graders with stress relief and management skills in preparation for high school in a fun way."

The program will run once a week on Thursdays, for six classes, focusing on a range of topics and techniques, according to Katie.

Participants are asked to sign up online, at

Katie said she started participating with Girl Scouts when she was in kindergarten, and she "always wanted to go gold." For her Girl Scout Gold Award, Katie said she was originally thinking of a science or engineering project, but in her junior year at Lauralton Hall, Katie was stressed out, with college looming and grades always on her mind.

"The whole social scene" was stressful, Katie said, adding that she heard similar feelings from her friends.

She decided to make her Girl Scout Gold Award project focus on stressing less.

Katie said she decided to help eighth graders focus on how to stress less to eventually help them when they reach high school, and put "stress relievers into action."

She began by conducting research online and learning about different programs to manage stress.

The program at the library will be "fun and interactive," Katie said, because she did not want to the program to feel like a therapy session.

"I really wanted to make this program fun," said Katie.

Katie said she plans to spend one day of the program playing flag football with the eighth graders for an hour. Other plans include doing yoga, creating artwork, and cooking.

"When you eat healthier you tend to be less stressed out," said Katie.

Katie also said she is planning on having a panel of high school students attend on one of the days to speak with the eighth grade students.

The Stress Less program is free and it is limited to 20 students. C.H. Booth Library is co-sponsoring the program, and Cat Fedorchek is the adult mentor for Katie for her Gold Award project.

"This is something I am very passionate about, so I am very excited to see it turn into reality," Katie said on Wednesday, August 10, a day after she placed flyers for the program at different locations around town.