Cardboard wrapped in cellophane and held together with duct tape hardly sounds like the components of a sturdy ship. But Akron’s young, makeshift mariners proved otherwise.
During the 2026 Cardboard Boat Races, more than 100 middle- and high-school-aged students from Akron Public Schools put their engineering skills and creativity to the test in a series of courses and challenges in Firestone Community Learning Center’s pool, including the five-person team behind the S.S. Ginch — Theo Martin, Miles Wimberly, Greyson McKeon, Henry Manahan and Daniel Tabuenca.
With aspirations of becoming back-to-back champions at the annual event, the Firestone CLC juniors touted having the largest crew in a single boat; everyone but McKeon crammed inside.
“We really tried to maximize our material and used every scrap of the cardboard box we were given,” Wimberly said of his group, which was fourth to don life jackets, grab paddles and take to the pool.
Although their ship sank, the event was more about creativity and getting a chance to stand out in their own way.
“We like to try and change it up,” Martin said.
This year’s participating schools also included Jennings and East CLCs, as well as Miller South School for the Visual and Performing Arts.
Creativity and community come together at Firestone CLC
Past events included length-to-length stamina runs across Firestone CLC’s pool, dexterous, figure-eight pathfinding and side-to-side sprint paddles.
This year’s assignment?
Scavenge the pool in student-built ships in search of balls to collect, then throw the balls into target rafts to “sink” them. From there, ships returned to the starting point — if they made it that far.
The challenge: keeping boats made out of cardboard, cellophane and duct tape steady while lobbing balls from inside the hull.
River Valley Paper Co. donated heavy-duty Gaylord boxes — large and sturdy enough to hold up to 1,500 pounds of material.
Several ships capsized.
Firestone CLC juniors log fastest time at 2026 event
Teachers refrained from passing on tips to students and discouraged teams from conversing with the competition — still, an atmosphere of camaraderie and sportsmanship shined through as every boat and its crew received applause from the bleachers.
“The most exciting part is that you get to see other people’s boats,” said Aubrey Caulder, a sophomore at Firestone CLC. “You get to see the boats that fail, and you get to see the boats that do well.
“It’s interesting to see how no one’s boat is the same.”
This year marked Caulder’s second participating alongside her friend, Kimberly Wallen. They said their boat survived last year. This time, the waters of the Firestone pool proved too treacherous.
Wallen said she found the most enjoyment in refining its design.
“After planning all the stuff, it’s fun to see, ‘Is it gonna work?’ or ‘Is it gonna fail?’” Wallen said. “Then you know what to do the following year.”
Even Walter Noland, the principal at East CLC, got a chance to ride on the Buoyancy Principal, a vessel made by his middle school students — complete with an emergency exit flap hiding an image of shark-infested waters.
The fastest time of the day was one minute and 53 seconds, logged by Firestone CLC juniors Logan Moser and Jackson Ulery aboard the LL Hernandez.
