BVA still benefiting from 2002 gift in will

By Christine Haines

chaines@yourmvi.com

A former Belle Vernon Area teacher continues to impact both students and other teachers in the district in ways even she never anticipated.

New signs, a decorative planter and a plaque honoring Ruth Virginia Frost were recently installed at Marion Elementary and Bellmar Middle schools utilizing interest from the fund Frost set up in her will. 

Frost, who taught French and English in the district for 37 years, established an endowment to cover the cost of scholarships for Belle Vernon students for 20 years. She passed away in 2002, and the first scholarship was given out in 2004. 

Gloria Yuschak, one of Frost’s former students who went on to become a teacher and one of Frost’s colleagues and friends, represents the Ruth Virginia Frost Scholarship Fund.

“It will go until 2024, but there was interest from the investments. Instead of giving it out in scholarships, I decided Belle Vernon School District needed some signage and beautification that could be done in her name,” Yuschak said. “We put a plaque up on the side of the Marion Elementary building.”

Yuschak said Frost encouraged her as a student and served as her mentor as a teacher.

“I just admired her a lot,” Yuschak said. “When I got the job back in Belle Vernon, we became colleagues and friends as well. She became like a second mother to me.”

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