Meet Mataio Manaea

Whiz Kid's name: Mataio Manaea

Whiz Kid's age: 18

Whiz Kid's school: Lakes High School

Whiz Kid's accomplishment: Mataio, who serves as Lakes’ senior class president, balances being a member of the National Honor Society with myriad extracurricular activities, including the Pacific Islanders Club, Gay-Straight Alliance Club and Lakes’ IGNITE mentors. He is also involved with the Lakewood Youth Council and St. John Bosco Catholic Church Youth Ministries.

Once he graduates from Lakes, Mataio plans to attend a four-year university – he is interested in Whitworth University, the University of Washington, Pacific Lutheran University and the University of Hawaii –and major in broadcast communications with a minor in education and international studies.

Whiz Kid's key to awesomeness: Mataio feels that his success is the result of prioritizing his responsibilities and having a competitive mindset throughout high school.

“I wanted to do everything I could do to be involved with my culture, leadership and passion,” he said, “and I basically wasn’t going to give up and let others beat me.”

And most importantly, he said, he will leave Lakes with no regrets about “things that (he) could have done.”

Mataio first got involved with student government in middle school, but said that it was a rocky start as he didn’t know what he was doing as ASB president. When he got to high school, he gave it another shot and was elected freshman class vice president. He served as vice president of his sophomore and junior classes, too, and then decided to change things up for his final year.

“I love being a voice for people, and I especially love helping those students who are in need of support,” he said. “A leader puts others before themselves, and I take it seriously.”

Mataio’s favorite thing about being a senior is doing everything for the final time. While he said it is sad to be leaving behind the school he has been familiar with since childhood, “I’m leaving behind a legacy of the work I have done over the last four years.”

Specifically, he calls that legacy a mark from himself: “Mataio Approved.”