Celebrating Helping Students Be Their Best

Sister Mary Ninette Manning recognized for years of service to Catholic high school

On a plaque inside the counseling center at Bethlehem High School in Bardstown, Kentucky, Sister Mary Ninette Manning, SCN, shares the following message:

“ The goal of Bethlehem High School is to educate the whole student. That effort includes nurturing many aspects of their growth. Depression, anxiety, a poor self-image, and a sense of being lost or not being good enough are some of the things that can impede progress and doing one’s best at the educational level. Hopefully, counseling might help a student believe in herself or himself, realizing that she or he can become the best person they can be. We are all special in the eyes of God. Sometimes, we need some help in discovering and believing that.”

Bethlehem welcomed Sister Mary Ninette back to campus for a special celebration to dedicate the newly-renovated Lourdes Counseling Center in her honor and in loving memory of two school alumni, Laverne K. Corbett and Carole T. Corbett.

Sister Mary Ninette served as a counselor at Bethlehem High School, a small but thriving Catholic school, for over three decades. She retired in 2018, the last Sister of Charity of Nazareth to leave the school since the Congregation established it in the early 1800s. ough retired, Sister Mary Ninette remained close with the school’s sta , students, and alums. is summer, Bethlehem High welcomed Sister Mary Ninette back to campus for a special celebration to dedicate the newlyrenovated Lourdes Counseling Center in her honor.

“Sister Mary Ninette’s abiding presence as the school counselor from 1982 to 2018 has been an inspiration to many,” said Olivia Seeger, a Bethlehem High graduate who spoke during the Aug. 15 gathering. “Her advocacy throughout the years mirrors the intercessory example of Mary, who leads people closer to her son, Jesus, the great Comforter. Today, we honor Sister Mary Ninette’s years of compassionate service.”

The occasion was notable for Sister Mary Ninette and the school's current counselor, Dr. Nathalie Barber Corbett, whose family made renovating the counseling space possible. In addition to being dedicated in honor of Sister Mary Ninette, the space was also dedicated in memory of two of Dr. Barber Corbett's family members, Laverne and Carole Corbett, school alums.

Dr. Barber Corbett recalled how Laverne was very ill when she was a teenager, and the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth cared for her. So when the Corbett family realized the need to remodel, rename and dedicate the counseling space at Bethlehem, they stepped up to make it happen.

“Many of the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren are Bethlehem graduates. So, the Corbett Family wished to contribute to this project in honor of the service of Sister Mary Ninette Manning and the memory of Laverne and Carole,” Dr. Barber Corbett said. She was delighted to honor the former counselor and Bethlehem’s “last Sister” with the gesture.

Dr. Nathalie Barber Corbett is pictured here with Mary Ninette Manning, SCN, in the counseling center at Bethlehem High School.

Present with Sister Mary Ninette at the August event were fellow Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Camille Panich, the vice provincial of the Western Province for the Congregation and Susan Kilb, a former Bethlehem administrator.

Father Jim Graf, a Sister of Charity of Nazareth Associate, various Bethlehem faculty, alums, students, friends, and other religious o cials were also in attendance.

The celebration kicked o with a Mass in Bethlehem’s quaint Chapel of Nativity, followed by comments and a blessing of the counseling center. Sister Mary Ninette herself blessed two of the chairs where students and families sit during counseling.

“May they come to know peace and joy and continue to grow in this wonderful school of education lled with love, joy, and many blessings,” she said. She also shared blessings with the Corbett family and thanked them for contributing to the center.

“It is absolutely beautiful. It speaks of healing, and I know those who come here will love it,” she told the family. “You are a big part of it, and you always will be.”

Dr. Barber Corbett said the students and sta had long referenced the counseling center as “Sister Mary Ninette’s o ce.” So, when presented with the opportunity, they chose to make the title more o cial with the dedication. She added that anyone she speaks to about Sister Mary Ninette mentions how fond they are of her and how she positively impacted their lives during her time with Bethlehem. In that same spirit, the center has been and will continue to be a place lled with love.

Sister Mary Ninette came to Bethlehem High School in 1982, where she counseled generations of students. She helped each student navigate their personal struggles, whether it was an issue at school or home, and made sure they felt heard and supported. During her time with Bethlehem, Sister Mary Ninette also worked as a marriage and family therapist for the Archdiocese of Louisville.

Upon learning of the dedication, e Most Rev. Shelton J. Fabre, Archbishop of Louisville, Kentucky, wrote to Sister Mary Ninette to commemorate the special day and thank her for her service to Bethlehem and the Archdiocese.

“I pray that you will be continually renewed in Christ Jesus as you retire from these ministries. Please know of my prayers for you and all the faithful of the Archdiocese that you have served so well,” he said.

Bethlehem Chaplain Father Steven Reeves also praised Sister Mary Ninette for her commitment to students and said the school honors her ministry alongside the many other Sisters of Charity of Nazareth who served at the school over the years. He said the dedication was fitting on the day celebrating the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and he thanked God for Sister Mary Ninette and all women religious who follow Mary’s example.

In a reflection of her work, Sister Mary Ninette describes the Catholic school as wholesome and very much like a family.

“The longer I was at Bethlehem, the more important I felt it was for me to be there,” she shares. So many adolescents were struggling with life and various challenges. It was my honor to journey with them, watching them grow and mature.”

Though Sister Mary Ninette’s retirement from Bethlehem marked an end to the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth being on staff, the Sisters and the school remain closely involved and supportive of one another. The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and Bethlehem High School will always be connected.

“Mother Catherine Spalding’s picture is here in the hallway,” Sister Mary Ninette said during her summer visit to the school. “She and the Sisters of the 1800s founded Bethlehem in 1819, just seven years after our Congregation was established. All the time I was here, I tried to keep that legacy going.”

She said that just as the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth are known as pioneer women, the young women who come through Bethlehem are also pioneer women, and she is proud of all they have accomplished.