The Edina Community Foundation honored 17-year-old Owen Stidman with a Student Leadership Award. Owen is a senior at Edina High School and has had many leadership roles at EHS. He’s the captain of the robotics team, a French horn player in the marching band, the head coach for Writer’s Block (the school’s online writing center) and the treasurer and a lead instructor for Genesis Test Prep. Furthermore, he’s completed multivariable calculus, the highest-level math course offered at EHS.
“I got involved with robotics because I really liked playing with LEGOs as a kid. In third grade, I joined a LEGO robotics team at the Edina Community Center,” says Owen. The experience led him to keep pursuing robotics throughout middle school and into high school. He now enjoys teaching younger kids from Edina and at People Serving People and Simpson Housing about robotics and STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and math). Owen also loved attending and presenting at the Out in STEM Conference in Pittsburgh. “At the conference, four members of our team, including myself, had the opportunity to share our advocacy experience with LGBTQIA+ community who were facing discrimination in STEM fields,” says Owen.
“I’m honored that the Edina Community Foundation chose me to receive the Student Leadership Award. I’d like to thank the people who nominated me for the award. I think it really shows the impact that my robotics team has made on spreading awareness about STEM and robotics in Edina.”
