Australian’s Top 100 Innovators
Sonia Newell – Development Officer – Alumni & Community Relations
Thank goodness for the end of another week of cold winter weather with less than three weeks until Spring. I bet you too are all looking forward to some warmer weather. This week’s report is jammed packed with news which I hope you enjoy reading.
Australian’s Top 100 Innovators for 2022
Alumnus Dan Brockwell (Class of 2015), co-founder of Earlywork was featured last week in the Australian Jewish News (see below). The company has also been featured in a number of other newspapers including The Australian Financial Review, where a recent article about the company was titled “New platform helps sacked start-up staff find their next gig”. Together with fellow co-founders Marina Wu and Jono Herman, their company has been included in The Australian’s Top 100 Innovators for 2022. We wish them all the best with their business venture and we look forward to seeing Dan back at School again soon to talk with our senior students.
Australian Museum Lifetime Achievement Award
Alumna Ondine Sherman (Class of 1990) and sister of Emanuel parent Emile Sherman, was in Sydney with her daughter Jasmine Ben-Ami for a very special event. She says: “I am so proud of my dad, Brian Sherman AM, for receiving the Australian Museum Lifetime Achievement Award. His passion, dedication, leadership and hard work as President of and supporter of the Australian Museum for the last 20+ years was celebrated beautifully. I was honoured to receive the award on his behalf and say a few words. Professor Tim Flannery gave a heartfelt speech as did Professor Kathy Belov AC and Kim McKay AO. Thank you to the Museum for the wonderful evening! Love you dad ❤”. Ondine, together with her husband Dror Ben-Ami and their three children, moved to live in Israel 10 years ago. Their daughter Jasmine was a student at Emanuel until the move – she is pictured below outside the Administration Building as a young Primary School student back in 2012. As we all know, time certainly flies – Jasmine recently finished school and she is shown now standing with her cousins who are all current Emanuel students.
Careers support for our senior students
Community Connections
Thank you to parents who have already responded to this request. We are looking to further widen our community connections to industry and the world of work to assist our Year 10 students. If you would also like to be involved (at a variety of levels from your choosing) please click here to register.
Artistic homage to an old bridge
An aerial view of Tides
Artist and Industrial Designer, alumnus Joel Adler (Class of 2011) created “Tides”, a six metre tall segmented sculpture. Six and a half tonnes of steel from the old Batemans Bay bridge over the Clyde River was trucked up to Sydney where Joel used a method known as ‘nesting’ to map out the separate pieces on the material. They were then put through high-tech fancy plasma cutters which built a modelling 3D version of the steel, before making the first cut. The sculpture was designed in eight parts so it could be trucked back to the coast where it now proudly stands just metres from where the old bridge stood.
Fullbright Australia Fellowship
After nearly four years and a few false starts, four months ago alumnus Dr David Mizrahi PhD (Class of 2005) finally headed off to the USA to start his very belated Fullbright Australia Fellowship with St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis Tennessee. The original plan was to spend one year there but that was shortened to 3.5 months due to COVID and other circumstances. David recently returned to Sydney after this amazing time away with his wife Carly (nee Fenton) who is also an ex-Emanuel student and their young son, Evan. He spent time with leading paediatric oncology researchers at St Judes Children’s Research Hospital where he linked with top researchers with an interest in exercise oncology and promoting positive health in childhood cancer, as well as a few other top institutions. David works as a Research Fellow at The Daffodil Centre (Cancer Council/The University of Sydney) and was one of our presenters at our Careers Space event for Years 11 and 12 in 2019.
It might be time to invite him back to speak to our students and staff about his amazing trip and his most recent achievements in the field of children’s cancer research!
Sydney Jewish Museum (SJM)
Mimi Wise and Susan Warhaftig
SJM has a wonderful event this coming Sunday 14 August 2022 – in conversation with two child survivors, one of whom is an Emanuel Grandparent – Mimi Wise. This is a really gentle event that can introduce your children (recommended ages 10 plus) to the Holocaust and the experience of children in hiding. Mimi and Susan are truly inspiring.
Book now as this event is filling up fast.
Another session you might be interested in attending is on Sunday 21 August 2022 at 3.00 pm. In response to the exhibition, Shaken to his Core: The Untold Story of Nolan’s Auschwitz, the Museum has invited three survivors of Auschwitz to share their memories of the notorious death camp and reflect on how their survival has impacted their lives.
Olga Horak, Yvonne Engelman and Jack Meister are three survivors who have lived through and grappled with this harrowing time in history, dedicating their lives over the past 30 years to bear witness. Both Olga and Yvonne are Emanuel great grandparents. Join the Sydney Jewish Museum for this unique opportunity as these three survivors share testimony to memorialise the murdered, to educate about the past and to bring hope for the future that we can together fight prejudice in the world today.
Book tickets to Shaken to His Core: The Untold Story of Nolan’s Auschwitz which is on until Sunday 23 October 2022.
Jack Meister, Yvonne Engelman and Olga Horak
Westfield Local Heroes 2022
Voting closes Monday 22 August 2022
There is still time to vote for past parent Josh Oschlack, the founder of The Rhythm Village, who runs workshops and music therapy sessions for about 100 children at schools and other venues in the Bondi area every week. Participants improve their wellbeing by singing, dancing and performing together. Westfield Local Heroes are nominated and voted for by their communities. The finalist with the most community votes will become the Westfield Bondi Junction Local Hero for 2022, receiving a $20,000 grant for the organisation they represent. If Josh is successful, The Rhythm Village will fund workshops for children with special needs at Rose Bay Secondary College, The Friendship Circle, Vaucluse Primary School and Wairoa School. Vote for Josh here under ‘Bondi Junction’.
Friendship Circle Walk
Sunday 28 August 2022
This will be the first in-person walk since the beginning of COVID. Many of our Emanuel families get involved with this event every year, where funds are raised to help create camps, getaways, social opportunities and vocational opportunities that bring people with and without disabilities together. A fantastic program is planned for this event, with food and drinks for sale, and free entertainment for the kids. The whole family will love our petting zoo, drumming circle, inflatable obstacle course, bubble performance, magic show, amazing DJ and more! Find more information here.
Remember September
September is less than three weeks away and alumnus Ben Wilheim, co-founder of Remember September with his brother David, hopes members of our School community will support this worthy month-long event. It was created in 2014 in memory of their late father Danny who succumbed to pancreatic cancer only a few months after diagnosis, as did their first cousin Daniella Feller (an ex-Emanuel student) at the age of 33, six weeks after her diagnosis. As a challenge-based fundraising initiative, Remember September aims to educate the public about pancreatic cancer as well as hopefully find a cure.
Changemaker Awards 2022
Honouring young people making a difference in our community
Nominations are now open for this annual program that recognises youth and young adults in our community who make a difference. Anyone can nominate someone in the Jewish community who is making the world a better place.
A number of our High School students and alumni have won awards over the years and we would love to see more Emanuel nominations this year, with recognition in two age groups: Youth – to age 18 and Young Adults – to age 36. Nominations close on Friday 30 September 2022.
We look forward to sharing our news and yours, so if you have photos and/or news you would like to share with us, please send to Sonia Newell
Shabbat shalom, stay safe, stay warm and have a great weekend.