A Wizard’s Path: Owen Leonard

From the stage to the screen, Owen is making the most of what Washingtonville High School has to offer. His involvement in the arts, athletics, and honor societies, along with an impressive 4.0 grade point average, brings him a new adventure every day.

​Owen holds many responsibilities as the president of both National Honor Society and National English Honor Society. He’s also a member of Tri-M Music Honor Society and an active participant in arts programs like Mask and Mime and wind ensemble. He’s grateful for the strong community each of his extracurricular activities provides, and credits his family as inspiration for his passions.

​“Everyone in my family is artistic,” Owen said. “My mom is more theatrical, my dad is into digital design, and now my sister is doing photography. It was cool to keep it going.”

​Owen’s older sister inspired him to join the Media and Journalism class, otherwise known as BGTV. The course is designed to introduce students to the world of media production while exploring the ever-growing industry and strengthening skills such as interviewing and writing.

​Throughout the year, Owen’s class will create a weekly community highlights show. Owen is currently on the field crew and serves as the executive segment producer. His work highlights district and town events that leave a positive impact on the community.

​“I’ve known about BGTV since I was in elementary school,” he explained. “We would see the crew coming to the school events and always run up to try to get interviewed. My sister did it when she was in high school, so it’s cool that I can keep it running in the family.”

​Owen has worked to incorporate an art class into his curriculum each year. He started with Studio Art in his freshman year. In his sophomore year, he took Digital Photography, a course typically reserved for juniors. Drawing and Painting was his third art course, and now he’s rounding out the subject with BGTV.

​This past fall, Owen took his media skills from the classroom to the tennis court, running the social media for and photographing the girls’ varsity team. The opportunity came from connecting with the coach, Mr. Matthew Anastasi, who appreciates when students volunteer. When he isn't competing on the court during the spring season, Owen hopes to help lend a hand with the boys’ tennis team's social media.

​In addition to tennis, Owen photographed the football team during their fantastic season. Following the first game of the season, Owen uploaded his content online for everyone to see. His hard work paid off when his media portfolio account took off with views.

​“I got to collaborate on the post with KOT845 (a popular Hudson Valley sports media platform), which is the big coverage of our section. I got a lot of traction and it just felt so rewarding, being out on the field and editing. It’s a lot of work, but to see that people were so happy was really fulfilling,” he said.

​When he’s not photographing a game, Owen shines on stage in wind ensemble, the spring musical and performances with the drama club, Mask and Mime. In last year’s production of Legally Blonde, he played Warner, and recalled how much fun he had playing one of the show’s antagonists.

​Vocal music is a great passion of Owen’s. He recently got accepted to the Orange County Music Educators Association’s All-County music festival. After the performance in January, Owen is looking forward to participating in this year’s production of Something Rotten in the spring.

​In the wind ensemble, Owen plays the clarinet. He’s also dabbled in the world of classical arrangement. After seeing the Wicked movie in 2024, he decided to rearrange three songs to be accessible for a high school level. “No One Mourns the Wicked”, “No Good Deed,” and “Defying Gravity” got reimagined into a medley that was performed at this past year’s spring concert.

​“The entire process of arranging the score was really demanding, but it was a lot of fun to do,” Owen said. “It was more of a side project that ended up becoming something bigger. I did my research and found a software called MuseScore, and worked really closely with the band director trying to change the keys.”

​Owen worked with Mr. Ari Contzius each day for many months to perfect each part. Overall, the project gave Owen a deeper understanding of music theory and strengthened his love for the auditory arts.

​“It helped my musicality because I had never gotten that much into music theory and even just physical music,” he said, “ I had been good with sight reading, but I got a better understanding of musical terms, different scales and rhythms and I learned a lot of new vocabulary.”

​The impact of music and the arts has led Owen to have an interest in the music industry. Over the summer, Owen had the opportunity to attend New York University’s Tisch Summer High School Program on the Recorded Music track. He spoke about the program with gratitude, saying how it solidified his interest in his post-grad plans.

​“Everything was combined into one holistic program and we had three different classes. One in the business, one in producing and one in arts and culture,” he explained. “Going into the arts and culture class, I didn’t know why we would be talking about it, but the teacher was so in-depth with why culture matters in music and why history matters, especially in New York City.”

​Owen is currently applying to colleges and plans to major in the music industry.

​Before he leaves Washingtonville, Owen reflects on what he’s valued most about his time at the high school. He appreciates the connections his leadership opportunities have brought him in such a short time. When asked for advice, Owen shares the importance of looking to your peers for support and planning ahead.

​“Look into the future and think ahead because you’ve been setting it up your entire life. You’ll continue to set it up with the connections that you make.”