Parkersburg High School Senior Manny Tewodros is shown during a recent visit to the campus of Virginia Tech. Tewodros has an interest in going into the aerospace field due to his love of science and math. (Photo Provided)

PARKERSBURG — The sky’s the limit for Manny Tewodros as the Parkersburg High School senior sets his sights on a career in the aerospace industry while still enjoying his time on the tennis court.

Tewodros, 17, has always been involved in science and math, participating in a number of the science teams at school. He is a part of the Key Club, National Honor Society and Diversity Student Union, and he plays tennis and has gotten back into basketball.

Tewodros has participated in the Science Bowl, Science Olympiad, and team competitions where the participants are tested and tasked with building something based on a prompt given to the team.

“I do all the science teams at school,” he said.

Last year, Tewodros was part of a group that had to create a device to pull a garage door up and down without the person actually touching the door.

Parkersburg High School student Manny Tewodros with other students from PHS competing at the West Virginia Science Olympiad at Marshall University back in March. The team got second place overall and a first place in The team got a first place in forensics. Tewodros has always had a love of math and science. (Photo Provided)

“Since I was a kid, I was always interested in math and science, and I have always liked to do it,” Tewodros said.

He was regularly involved in Math Field Days in elementary school.

“I love to just problem solve,” Tewodros said. “I enjoy getting a problem and figuring out the answer.

“I love that feeling of ‘I got it right.'”

In addition to his interests in math and science, he has been playing tennis for a number of years and has recently gotten back into playing basketball.

Parkersburg High School Senior Manny Tewodros has had a love of tennis for a number of years, playing in local recreation leagues as well as on the PHS team. (Photo Provided)

He has been involved in tennis since he was in sixth grade and regularly participated in the Vienna Summer Tennis Rec Camp.

“I loved it,” Tewodros said. “I have been playing ever since then.”

Over the past couple of summers, he has taught kids from pre-kindergarten all the way to middle school how to play tennis through Vienna Rec Tennis, covering skills like serving and volleying, as well as how to hit forehand and backhand.

“With some of the older kids, we taught them how to play in an actual match,” Tewodros said.

Teaching a wide range of ages, he said, was “an interesting challenge.”

Parkersburg High School student Manny Tewodros, second from the left, was part of the Parkersburg High School team at the West Virginia Science Olympiad at Marshall University in March where they got first place in forensics and second place overall. (Photo Provided)

“Many of the kids wanted to be there,” he said. “Many were really good.”

Tewodros played basketball from fourth to seventh grade and then concentrated on tennis. Recently, he has been involved with the basketball team at school, working to make the team as a center.

“I just joined back this year,” Tewodros said. “That has been a new challenge for me, and I really like it.”

With tennis, he prefers playing solo, succeeding or failing based solely on his own merits.

“That is appealing,” he said. “With tennis, I like to be by myself.”

Parkersburg High School Senior Manny Tewodros attended the Governor’s Honor Academy at Fairmont State University over the summer. The participants looked at challenges and opportunities for their generation, exploring contemporary issues and their historical roots. (Photo Provided)

On the other hand, he likes being part of a basketball team.

“Everyone has been very welcoming and accepting that I haven’t been playing again for a long time,” Tewodros said. “They don’t get mad when I do make mistakes. That has helped me enjoy it.”

After high school, Tewodros is setting his sights on a career in the aerospace field.

“That has always interested me,” he said. “I am applying to colleges right now.”

He is applying to Georgia Tech to do aerospace engineering. He is also applying to Virginia Tech, West Virginia University and The Ohio State University.

Tewodros said he loves the idea of being able to design planes as well as spacecraft that can go into orbit and beyond.

“I think working on planes and spacecraft would be really cool to do and would be really interesting to me,” he said. “Aerospace engineering is something I have always wanted to do.

“It involves the things I enjoy, math and science.”

Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com

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