A super-secret surprise celebration at East Ridge High School last week applauded senior Sophia Soo for earning a perfect score of 5 on her 2025 Advanced Placement Art and Design 2D Portfolio.
“Getting a perfect 5 is very rare. Only the top two percent of students in the world fall into this category,” said an excited Jessica Frisco, Soo’s art teacher.
Soo received 100 percent on her entire portfolio submission in both sections: Sustained Investigation and Selected Works.
According to school officials, Soo is the first East Ridge student to receive a perfect AP Art portfolio score.
“I mentored her through her Sustained Investigation, a year-long project where she developed a concept entirely personal to her,” Frisco said.
“Her inquiry ultimately focused on how her Chinese culture has shaped her experiences as an American. I challenged her to use symbolism effectively and to demonstrate a high-level synthesis—creatively blending diverse materials, processes, and ideas—to create a cohesive series of artworks that thoughtfully responded to her discoveries.”
An air of jubilation was all around Thursday’s pre-celebration scene at the school, where more than a dozen guests had gathered in front of a small stage to surprise Soo, including School District 833 Superintendent Julie Nielsen, Assistant Superintendent Kristin Shaefer, a few art teachers and a group of band students eager to cheer her on.
Hushed text messages were exchanged in anticipation.
“Should I bring her over?” one message asked.
The answer: “No, we are waiting for her mom.”
Apparently, Soo was talking with Principal Jim Smokrovich in his office, where he would eventually get his cue to bring her to the stage and she would hear about her accomplishment for the first time.
When the pair finally walked in, Soo was obviously surprised to see all the seated guests, her mom, her art teachers, and, behind her on the wall, a panel where her art work was displayed.
Soo’s portfolio was entitled: “How Can I Reckon With My Own Cultural Identity?”
She identifies herself as both Asian and American. Her father, who is American-born, has Chinese origins. Her mother is Vietnamese.
Soo was asked to take a seat on the stage, and her teacher Jessica Frisco explained the rare AP honor. It appeared from Soo’s reactions that she was having a difficult time grasping the enormity of the moment at first.
One of Soo’s favorite art pieces, a self portrait of her inner self, and a couple of her other favorite pieces had disappeared earlier from where they were displayed around her house. But now she was suddenly seeing them again on the stage.
She looked at her mother, half smiling, half accusingly, as if to say, “So that’s why you took them.” The wonder and astonishment on Soo’s face were clearly a joy for the audience to behold.
Soo had submitted five of her favorite pieces for her AP portfolio – from about 20 that she had painted to date. Some of them also won awards at the 2025 Minnesota State Fair K-12 Individual Exhibits Competition.
Next year, Soo hopes to attend Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where, if accepted, she plans to study Medicine with a minor in Art.
One of the reasons she chose Brown, she said, is that the school allows her to choose her own courses. She also likes the university’s historic New England setting near the Providence River and Narragansett Bay.
