{"id":126984,"date":"2026-02-08T18:42:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T18:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/126984\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T18:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T18:42:13","slug":"hundreds-turn-out-for-staten-island-2026-cub-scout-pinewood-derby-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/126984\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds turn out for Staten Island 2026 Cub Scout Pinewood Derby finals"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Cub Scouts from across Staten Island put their creativity, early engineering skills and teamwork to the test Saturday during the annual Staten Island Cub Scout Pinewood Derby, held Feb. 7, 2026, at the Staten Island Mall.<\/p>\n

The islandwide finals brought together winners from local Cub Scout pack races, with competitors racing handmade wooden cars on a multi-lane track set up in the first-floor court outside JCPenney.<\/p>\n

Cub Scouts from kindergarten through fifth grade competed by rank, beginning with Lions and progressing through Tigers, Wolves, Bears, Webelos and Arrow of Light scouts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am here to watch my little brother race his car today,\u201d said Daniel Rivera, 14, whose younger brother competed in the Tiger division. \u201cHe worked so hard with our dad to build it, and it was exciting to see whose car was the fastest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each car raced in a round-robin format, ensuring every entry competed against all others within its age group. First-, second- and third-place finishers in each rank received trophies.<\/p>\n

\"(Advance\/SILive.comCub Scouts put their creativity, early engineering skills and teamwork to the test Saturday during the annual Staten Island Cub Scout Pinewood Derby, held Feb. 7, 2026, at the Staten Island Mall.(Advance\/SILive.com | Dr. Gracelyn Santos)<\/p>\n

The Pinewood Derby is a hallmark of the Cub Scouting program and reflects its emphasis on family involvement. <\/p>\n

Scouts work alongside family members to transform a 2-inch by 7-inch block of wood into a race car, learning basic STEM concepts such as design, weight distribution and problem-solving while displaying unique creativity through decoration.<\/p>\n

The handmade cars in yesterday\u2019s event showcased their builders\u2019 creativity and personality, each uniquely distinctive. The cars ran the gamut from sleek to playful in shape and were painted in a variety of hues. <\/p>\n

Some were decked out with decals, numbers, or tiny figures on top, while others kept it simple and streamlined. <\/p>\n

The black wheels stood out against all the bright colors, a reminder that at the derby, it\u2019s not just about speed, but about craftsmanship, imagination, and the experience of building and creating together.<\/p>\n

\"(Advance\/SILive.comBrendan Lee and Danny Lee compete during the Pinewood Derby at the Staten Island Mall on Feb. 7. (Advance\/SILive.com | Dr. Gracelyn Santos)<\/p>\n

Cub Scouting is open to girls and boys from kindergarten through fifth grade and is organized into dens of similarly aged youth who focus on teamwork, leadership and hands-on learning. <\/p>\n

Cub Scout packs are located throughout Staten Island. Families interested in joining can visit beascout.org<\/a> to find a local pack.<\/p>\n

Winners from the Staten Island finals are eligible to advance to citywide competition. While plans to fully resume citywide finals following the pandemic have not yet been announced, organizers said Scouts are prepared to participate once details are finalized.<\/p>\n

\"(Advance\/SILive.comRob Miller and scouts from Pack 4 take part in the Pinewood Derby at the Staten Island Mall on Feb. 7. (Advance\/SILive.com | Dr. Gracelyn Santos)2026 Staten Island Cub Scout Pinewood Derby ResultsRank \/ Grade LevelFirst PlacePackSecond PlacePackThird PlacePackLion (Kindergarten)Joseph ColtrinariPack 24Mateo ShuldmanPack 41George CalimanoPack 88Tiger (1st Grade)Noah BlockPack 41Jack SchaeferPack 132Maxwell ConnorsPack 37Wolf (2nd Grade)Rowan HenryPack 8Abigail ThompsonPack 1Louis Van SantPack 41Bear (3rd Grade)Thomas CalimanoPack 88Beau JamesPack 37Kira ZhengPack 25Webelos (4th Grade)Massimo BuoninfantePack 41Hunter BocayaPack 4Michael ConstantinoPack 8Arrow of Light (5th Grade)Liam HenryPack 8Max RegaPack 4Lucas SorrentiPack 6\"(Advance\/SILive.comCub Scouts put their creativity, early engineering skills and teamwork to the test Saturday during the annual Staten Island Cub Scout Pinewood Derby, held Feb. 7, 2026, at the Staten Island Mall.(Advance\/SILive.com | Dr. Gracelyn Santos)\"(Advance\/SILive.comAce Velez and Miguel Velez participate in the Pinewood Derby at the Staten Island Mall on Feb. 7. (Advance\/SILive.com | Dr. Gracelyn Santos)\"(Advance\/SILive.comAgnes Zbylut and Francis Burek of Pack 2 are seen at the Pinewood Derby at the Staten Island Mall on Feb. 7. (Advance\/SILive.com | Dr. Gracelyn Santos)\"(Advance\/SILive.comCub Scouts put their creativity, early engineering skills and teamwork to the test Saturday during the annual Staten Island Cub Scout Pinewood Derby, held Feb. 7, 2026, at the Staten Island Mall.(Advance\/SILive.com | Dr. Gracelyn Santos)(Advance\/SILive.com | Dr. Gracelyn Santos)\"(Advance\/SILive.comCub Scouts put their creativity, early engineering skills and teamwork to the test Saturday during the annual Staten Island Cub Scout Pinewood Derby, held Feb. 7, 2026, at the Staten Island Mall.(Advance\/SILive.com | Dr. Gracelyn Santos)\"(Advance\/SILive.comCub Scouts put their creativity, early engineering skills and teamwork to the test Saturday during the annual Staten Island Cub Scout Pinewood Derby, held Feb. 7, 2026, at the Staten Island Mall.(Advance\/SILive.com | Dr. Gracelyn Santos)\"(Advance\/SILive.comAdler Varon and Alistair Varon participate in the Pinewood Derby at the Staten Island Mall on Feb. 7. (Advance\/SILive.com | Dr. Gracelyn Santos)\"(Advance\/SILive.comCub Scouts put their creativity, early engineering skills and teamwork to the test Saturday during the annual Staten Island Cub Scout Pinewood Derby, held Feb. 7, 2026, at the Staten Island Mall.(Advance\/SILive.com | Dr. Gracelyn Santos)\"(Advance\/SILive.comCub Scouts put their creativity, early engineering skills and teamwork to the test Saturday during the annual Staten Island Cub Scout Pinewood Derby, held Feb. 7, 2026, at the Staten Island Mall.(Advance\/SILive.com | Dr. Gracelyn Santos)\"(Advance\/SILive.comCub Scouts put their creativity, early engineering skills and teamwork to the test Saturday during the annual Staten Island Cub Scout Pinewood Derby, held Feb. 7, 2026, at the Staten Island Mall.(Advance\/SILive.com | Dr. Gracelyn Santos)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Cub Scouts from across Staten Island put their creativity, early engineering skills and teamwork…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126985,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-126984","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}