Commack Girl Wins National Honor Among Jewish Teenagers

NEW YORK, NY — A Commack teen has been honored for being a top leader at a large Jewish network for teens.

Sarah Strent, 17, was recently named CTeen Female Leader of the Year at the CTeen International Shabbaton, an annual event where thousands of Jewish teens gather in New York City, according to The Chai Center. Strent, a senior at Commack High School, was chosen by her peers from among 3,000 leaders worldwide.

CTeen, comprised of teens spanning 37 countries, has 625 chapters around the world. Its mission is to inspire and support teens who want to give back to their community and environment, with an emphasis on positive character development.

Strent is a leader with the West Suffolk Chapter of CTeen, which is based at The Chai Center in Dix Hills.

"We are so immensely proud of Sarah," Rabbi Dovid Weinbaum, youth director at The Chai Center stated via news release. "Sarah has helped us on a local level create programs like cooking for needy families, packing gifts for children in hospitals and creating a bowl-a-thon for special needs kids and children with cancer. She became a regional leader helping to create programs for over 50 chapters in the New York and New Jersey area. In the last 18 months, Strent was named an international leader serving on the board of CTeen."

The CTeen Network aims to provide a nurturing environment fusing fun, friendship, humanitarian outreach, mitzvah observance, and engaging Torah study. The CTeen Network believes in the power of youth and transforming the teen years into a time of purpose and self-discovery with the goal of making leaders of them, according to The Chai Center.