Concordia Nebraska presents first SPARK academic camp

On Saturday, March 1, 2025 Concordia University, Nebraska hosted SPARK, a one-day academic camp for students in grades six through twelve.  

“SPARK was intentionally designed to inspire curiosity and creativity,” said Concordia Nebraska Assistant Professor of Agricultural Science Dr. Kimberly Clark. “Students engaged in hands-on workshops across various disciplines, explored their interests and developed new skills.” 

More than 20 students participated in a variety of camp classes including DNA: God's Molecule of Life, Mathematical Modeling with Excel, Learning to Code with Scratch, Improv!, The Science of Sound: Echoes and Frequencies, The World of Color: Unlocking the Spectrum, and Leadership - Survivors: Outsmart, Outsolve, Outserve.  

SPARK was intentionally designed to inspire curiosity and creativity. Students engaged in hands-on workshops across various disciplines, explored their interests and developed new skills.

University faculty and staff were invited to deliver sessions focusing science, business, math, computer science and leadership and other topics for this year’s event. Classes were led by a variety of Concordia Nebraska faculty including Paul Scholars Program Director Paul Berggren, Professor of Physics Dr. Brent Royuk, Assistant Professor of Biology Dr. Raegan Skelton and Programming Team Director and Instructor of Computer Sciences Ian Kollipara.  

“Engaging community youth and students from Seward and surrounding communities in multiple academic areas fulfills a focus of Concordia Nebraska,” added Clark. “Understanding that learning is fun and having youth experience a college campus sparks their interest for their future vocations. When Concordia can be part of the vocational development beginning in middle school or high school, we are part of shaping the foundation for their future and their future vocations.” 

In addition to choosing to participate in two classes from the list offered, students also participated in a scavenger hunt, group activities and an ice cream social, which was sponsored by Jones Bank. 

“We are looking forward to hosting this camp each summer,” said Clark. “In 2026, we will be moving from a one-day camp to a three-day camp. We are excited to increase the number of students who participate in the camp, build their peer networks and spark their passion and interest for learning while having fun and learning new skills.” 

Next year’s Spark camp event is scheduled for July 13-16, 2026.  

Concordia University, Nebraska presents a variety of on and off-campus events to benefit the university community, Seward community and beyond. Learn more here.