The Scotts Valley Times is pleased to recognize Scotts Valley High School valedictorian Brent Kong and salutatorians Ian Jory and Sofia Niklaus for their hard work that put them at the top of their class in 2025.
Here they share their post-graduation plans and memories of Scotts Valley High:
Valedictorian
Brent Kong
Parents: Julius Kong, Nancy Leung
What will you do after you graduate? College? Do you have a major in mind?
I plan on attending the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) as an applied and computational mathematics major. I will also be swimming for Caltech.
What activities did you participate in at Scotts Valley High?
I am a full IB Diploma candidate. Additionally, I am the captain of the Varsity Swim Team, founder and president of the Math Club, and co-founder and vice president of the Red Cross Club.
The Math Club organized SAT review sessions and math competitions, such as the American Math Competition Series, the American Invitational Mathematics Exam, and the California Math League.
The Red Cross Club helped organize the blood drive and raised donations to support families affected by the LA wildfires.
Finally, I represented Scotts Valley High School at the Santa Cruz County STEAM Expo, winning Best in Show, honorable mention at the California Science and Engineering Fair, and finalist at the International Science and Engineering Fair.
In my spare time, I am a tutor in mental math and abacus and volunteer in the Emergency Clinic at Dominican Hospital. In total, I have volunteered over 500 hours, and have been awarded the Presidential Volunteer Gold Award for 4 consecutive years.
What will you remember most about Scotts Valley High?
My senior year of high school swimming was most memorable. Being able to swim with my brother, Brandon, on the same relay was the highlight.
Together with Ty Gomez and Torsten Ingesson, we trained hard and competed against other high schools.
We placed top three in the County for the 400 freestyle relay and competed at the CCS Championships for the first time in school history.
Individually, I won the individual 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle events at the SCCAL Swim Finals.
Although our high school does not have a pool, we still are competitive in the county.
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Salutatorians
Ian Jory
Parents: Wendy Jory and Tom Jory
What will you do after you graduate? College?
I’ll be going to UC San Diego in the fall.
Do you have a major in mind?
I’m committed for Electrical Engineering at the moment. Will it change? Possibly, since there’s a lot of adjacent majors I’m interested in.
I’m fairly certain I’ll stick with Electrical, though. Electricity is like magic, and that would make me a wizard, which is awesome.
What activities did you participate in at Scotts Valley High?
The big ones for me were track and cross country.
The mix of having a source of exercise and a sense of community was invaluable to me. I ran all four years and I credit the sport for a lot of my success.
Otherwise, I’ve dabbled in a lot of different activities. I was vice president of the coding club and co-founded the amiable relationships and networking club, which is dedicated to communication skills.
I’ve also been a part of the film, bowling, and fashion club.
I like to help out where I can and try new things, so I’ve been around a bit.
What will you remember most about Scotts Valley High?
Definitely the teachers and student body. I’ve gotten really close with my peers and it makes the learning process a lot easier and more enjoyable.
Specifically, asking questions is vastly easier when you know everyone well and can talk to the teacher casually. I think the hardest change in college will be transitioning from 30-person classes to 100+ person lectures.
Sofia Niklaus
Parents: Colleen Niklaus and Andrew Niklaus
What will you do after you graduate? College?
I am going to Colorado College and will play lacrosse while I’m there.
Do you have a major in mind?
I want to be a veterinarian, so I plan on a pre-vet major, which essentially is just biology and chemistry.
What activities did you participate in at Scotts Valley High?
While at Scotts Valley, I played varsity lacrosse and varsity tennis all four years; I was a captain for lacrosse every year, and a captain for tennis my senior year.
I also was the treasurer for the SV Haunted House my sophomore, junior, and senior years.
What will you remember most about Scotts Valley High?
The thing I will remember most about Scotts Valley High is the teachers; they have always been very supportive and knowledgeable, and I really appreciate how hard they work for every student. n
TOP PHOTO (front to back): Brent Kong, Sofia Niklaus and Ian Jory
