SAINTS PERSPECTIVE, SCCC President Brad Bennett
The buildings at Seward County Community College echoed with unusual sounds last week: children’s laughter, feet racings down the carpeted hallways, and, Thursday afternoon, splashes and shrieks in the Wellness Center swimming pool. We hosted around 100 children at Kids College this week, and it gave our campus staff a much-needed jolt of happiness and energy as we near the end of a long, hot, summer.
For more than 20 years, the Business & Industry division at SCCC has offered children a chance to come to campus for fun and valuable classes for one action-packed week in the summer. Kids College is open to children entering first through eighth grades. Classes range from the everyday to the exotic: cooking basics, how to care for a lawnmower, how to swim on the one hand, or archery, intro to blacksmithing and more advanced art methods on the other.
This year, enrollment exceeded previous years, a sure sign that we are past the COVID effect that kept people — including children — isolated. In fact, so many small Saints showed up to campus that B&I Director Norma Jean Dodge, and B&I Coordinator Megan Troutner put out a call for volunteers to help guide groups of students across campus!
A love for learning is not something that can be forced upon anybody. Kids College is a great example of how to make the process fun, appealing, and “caught, not taught.” When parents prioritize learning by enrolling their children in activities like this, they are sending a powerful message about what is important.
We see this all the time with recreational and club sports, which have their own vital lessons to teach. Oftentimes, sports and academics are discussed like they are opposites, which is a shame. A good life includes balance, and kids need to learn how to function as part of a team, face victories and defeats, and gain valuable physical and social skills through sports.
At the same time, I am always glad to see children encouraged to experiment with new skills in the classroom, lab, or studio setting. In those situations, children learn to troubleshoot, to experiment, to learn from mistakes, and to persevere when things may not seem promising. Just ask our longtime fishing instructor, Nick Zimmerman. For years, he has patiently untangled lines, assisted with bait, and modeled patience with Kids College fishing students.
I am confident the children who celebrate a week of learning with a pizza and pool party on campus will be back in the future, enrolling in concurrent classes, playing on the court or field or sitting in one of the lecture halls at SCCC. They’ve already learned that college is for them.
Many of our students on the other end of the age spectrum did not have the opportunity to attend activities like Kids College. In the SCCC Adult Education programs, we strive to provide access to students as young as 16 and as old as 85 (or even older!). As SCCC’s Adult Education Director, Dr. Katie Reck, says, “it’s never to late to graduate!”
We are excited to enroll students now through Aug. 2 for the next session of high school diploma (GED) classes and English language classes. The classes are low- or no-cost, depending on the study track, and with a fully staffed department, SCCC Adult Education is eager to help people move forward with their goals.
Although it looks very different, adult education serves many of the same functions as Kids College: it changes the direction of families’ lives, and sets a foundation for a better future. When an adult learner attains a GED or masters English skills, those achievements result in greater opportunities at work and in society. People who complete the SCCC Adult Education programs have more possibilities, which in turn benefit their household members.
But maybe the most powerful effect is the one I mentioned earlier: a love of learning is caught, not taught. For the children and grandchildren who see a family member attend class, study, practice, and finally graduate, the desire to follow that example is strong. And those children are also the ones we view as future Saints. Once the seed of knowledge is planted, it’s only natural to see growth.
In just a month, we will welcome a new group of freshmen and returning sophomores to campus for academic year 2024-25. I’m excited to see them. Thanks to Kids College and Adult Education, I’m also looking far into the future, with many more Saints to come.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR — Brad Bennett grew up watching his mother teach school, and started his own educational career as a kindergarten teacher. This fall, he will balance his role as college president with homework help for his fifth-grade and third-grade daughters. You can email him at
