CRANFORD — More than 200 Cranford area Girl Scouts of all ages, together with their families, recently participated in the 11th annual Cranford Girl Scout Powered Derby at the Cranford Community Center.

The Girl Scout Powered Derby encourages Girl Scouts to use their engineering skills and creativity to turn blocks of wood into miniature cars, which were then raced on a specialized aluminum six-lane track owned by the Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey.

The eight races were organized by age levels, from kindergarten to high school, and each car competed in six heats throughout the Scout’s level. At the end of the day-long event, held January 28, the cars of the top four fastest finishers in each of the eight levels were entered into the grand championship round. The Grand Champion of the 2024 Girl Scout Powered Derby was Mia, a fourth grader from Girl Scout Junior Troop 40171.

“The Girl Scout Powered Derby was important to me because I spent time with my dad having fun, but also working on the car at the same time,” said Mia. “Being a part of the race helped me understand more about engineering. I felt nervous racing the car, but I felt very happy and excited when I won. My car broke speed records on the track, which was very exciting. I can’t wait to design and build a car next year!”

This year, Junior Troop 40042 assumed the role of hosts for the Girl Scouts of Cranford derby after shadowing Girl Scout Troop 40444 in 2023. Troop 40444 members had coordinated the event since 2014 until their graduation in 2023.

In preparation for this year’s event, to ensure all Girl Scouts had an opportunity to participate regardless of their access to tools, Girl Scout Junior Troop 40042 held two new design and carpentry workshops to assist Girl Scouts and their families with the safe building of their wood car creations.

Girl Scout attendees received hands-on experience with tools and carpentry techniques. The promotion of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) activities is a growing part of the Girl Scouts of the USA offerings to girls of all ages.

Girl Scout Junior Troop 40042 also continued the philanthropic tradition of collecting children’s snacks during the event from the Girl Scout families, which benefited Cranford Family Cares, a nonprofit that provides temporary assistance to individuals and families in Cranford.

“The derby allows the Girl Scouts to learn and exercise a multitude of skills,” said Jennifer Crum, a Girl Scout Junior Troop 40042 co-leader assisting in the event. “Event planning, budgeting, woodworking, marketing, just to name a few. Beyond these more technical aspects, our girls have had to learn valuable life skills such as patience, teamwork, creativity and good sportsmanship.”

For more information about the Girl Scouts of Cranford, visit www.girlscoutsofcranford.com.