SND USA mission resonates with
Associate Sharon Harris For Sharon Harris, becoming an SND Associate in 2018 seemed the best way to show her love for the Sisters of Notre Dame and what they taught her while attending Notre Dame Academy in Covington, Kentucky. She says the SND mission emphasizing the sharing of “God’s good and compassionate nature with all people” resonates with her personally. “As a scientist, it’s easy to say all life is connected through a simple chemical, DNA. What’s more important is recognizing this connectedness of all as a manifestation of God’s love for us,” Sharon states. “I can’t fathom a life without compassion and service.” Upon graduating from NDA, Sharon went on to earn a BS in Environmental Studies and an MS in Biology from Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky. She worked in research for 16 years – conducting research in Antarctica and studying in Ukraine -- and for the past 26 years has been teaching at Mercy McAuley High School in Cincinnati, Ohio.
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Sisters of Notre Dame USA | www.sndusa.org
“One summer evening, Laura Koehl (former president of Notre Dame Academy and recently appointed Executive Director of the SND National Sponsorship and Network Office) and I were sharing a meal and reflecting on our education by the Sisters of Notre Dame. We easily recognized the voices and actions of the sisters in how we lived. At this dinner, Laura told me about the Associate Program and shared that she would begin a year-long process of discernment in the Fall. After a long discussion with her and Sister Luann Bender, I, too, decided to start this journey,” Sharon recalls. “At my Covenant, a friend congratulated me saying, ‘I know that, in truth, your association with them has been life-long.’ I hadn’t realized that at the time, but she was correct. Becoming an SND Associate was a formality that gave me community and direction.”
