As a Thorold high school teacher, Kathryn Bean Becker spent her days encouraging students to follow their dreams.

Though she passed away in 1992, Becker’s passion for helping others has continued to impact the next generation of learners at Brock University.

Both Becker and her brother John W. Bean, who passed away in 1987, placed great importance on post-secondary education. The siblings each made a generous donation to Brock through their estates that have gone on to aid students through several namesake scholarships and bursaries.

Isabella Domaradzki knows first-hand the impact that support can have.

The fourth-year Concurrent Education student was able to attend Brock largely due to donor-funded student awards, including the John W. Bean and Kathryn Bean Becker Scholarship in Concurrent Education, which she received for 2017-18.

Support offered through the scholarship, which helped to ease financial stress, has allowed Domaradzki to focus on her studies as she pursues her career in education. It has also afforded her the opportunity to devote spare time to community service.

Those pursuits inside and outside of the classroom have helped her to build a strong foundation for the future, while also learning more about the person she is and the person she hopes to become.

It was the University’s strong reputation and sense of community that prompted Domaradzki to choose Brock. The ongoing support from donors is yet another component of that community feel — one students should be thankful for, she said.

For more information on making an estate gift, phone 905-688-5550 x4190.