We are very proud of Masada College Alumni, Nicky (1998) and Darryl Jackson (1990) who are the co-founders of the highly successful business, RangeMe. RangeMe revolutionised the way retail buyers and product suppliers do business together. Launched in Sydney in 2014, RangeMe tapped into a market segment that hadn’t innovated over the years – retail buyers were still going to trade shows to discover products and receiving new product submissions via email. RangeMe now has over one million products on its platform and 20,000 retail buyers with offices in Sydney, San Francisco, Cleveland and Amsterdam.
“Most people say they couldn’t work with their spouse; however, we have different skillsets and value what we both bring to the business. Darryl is a Chartered Accountant and I am qualified in Marketing, so we look at the business with a different lens. RangeMe is a direct product of our combined effort and passion.” – Nicky Jackson
A full interview with Nicky Jackson is coming up in our next Link Magazine.
Congratulations to Masada College Alumni Ilana Slobedman (2019) on her selection for the Oxford University International Intellectual Property Law Moot. See her full story in the Australian Jewish News. https://www.australianjewishnews.com/student-off-to…/
Two Masada teachers, Mrs Williams and Mrs Seftel, received a stunning artwork of appreciation from Karen Qiang, Alumni 2021. The artwork represents a composite view of the units studied in Years 11 and 12 Modern History. This included the demise of the Romanovs, the destruction of both World Wars, Roosevelts’ fireside chats, the Vietnamese struggle for independence and China’s rise as a world economic power.
“I loved every period of history we studied in the past two years. Thank you so much, Mrs Williams and Mrs Seftel, for all your hard work, and for bringing me into an amazing world.” – Karen Qiang
Mazal Tov and congratulations to the Masada College HSC students for their results and achievements in the 2021 Higher School Certificate. “Our remarkable students took the unprecedented challenges of 2020 and 2021 in their stride and emerged as confident, capable young men and women,” says College Principal, Mira Hasofer.
The College celebrated 53% of Masada students on the Distinguished Achievers List and 31% of students achieved an ATAR of greater than 90. Masada College was very proud of the Dux, Kevin Lin, who achieved an ATAR of 99.70 and All Rounder Achievers, Aiden Bergheim, Kevin Lin and Ilana Stitz. The College was also thrilled to have moved up 45 places to 68 in the 2021 HSC NSW (SMH) School rankings.
“Putting aside the Band rankings, we are equally proud of all our students who have strived to achieve their personal best and can hold their heads high,” says Mrs Hasofer.
Masada College farewells and acknowledges Daphne Flax, as she heads to retirement, after 35 years of teaching Visual Arts at the College. The College recognises her significant contribution, especially the development a culture of excellence in Visual Arts at Masada. Ryan Gill, Head of Senior School at Masada says “On behalf of everyone at Masada College, I extend my appreciation for all that Daphne has contributed to the lives of generations of young people. Her talents and unwavering support for our students and the College has been admired and revered.”
Initially Daphne taught all school levels and enjoyed teaching receptive juniors as much as the more committed Year 12 students. Ten years into the position, Flax became Head of Creative Arts.
Daphne believes that the phenomenal growth in Visual Arts education at Masada came as a result of the serendipity between school management policy and her personal vision and aspiration. “With a predisposition to a playfulness with ideas, materials and processes and a tolerance for ambiguity, Masada was able to provide unique opportunities for transformation and innovation,” she explains, “The wonderful results came from teasing out ideas rather than finding premature closure.”
The repute of Masada College Visual Arts strengthened and solidified with Daphne at the helm. The Visual Arts department grew because the classes were challenging and sensory. Daphne initiated programs with exciting stimuli – from boats to rocks to lotus flowers that transformed over weeks as classes observed them, the classroom was never dull. Ever cognisant of political, economic, environmental, social and technological changes the aim of the Visual Art department was to remain contemporary and relevant.
As in so many other disciplines, Flax identifies Technology as a major force of change during her career. “Technology has greatly impacted students. It has changed the way students do research, the way they think, the artworks we are able to look at and the artworks the students make as well as the communication and accessibility between student and teacher.
Excellent HSC results as well as the consistent ARTEXPRESS nominations and selections also engendered trust and aspiration. More and more students selected the subject. Two of her students topped the state in Art (Tandi Rabinowitz and her own son, Clifford Flax). Daphne was invited to join the NSW panel of HSC final exam markers. She lectured at several Visual Arts teachers symposiums at the Art Gallery of NSW, Museum of Contemporary Arts, in New York and other venues. She was awarded the New South Wales Quality Teaching Award, for contributing significantly to critical and historical studies as well as supporting creative art making practice.
Asked how she feels about her retirement, Daphne says that she does leave with a sense of accomplishment. “The gift of longevity in a profession is to see the seed planted flourish and bear fruit. This pertains to each student as well as to the vivacity of the Visual Arts Department at Masada College which has a bright future”, she adds.
We have loved welcoming our Kindergarten to Year 2 children back to campus. Our teachers have focused on resocialising the children and settling them back into school routines. Here’s what our students had to say about their return to school.
At the Masada College 2021 HSC Virtual Showcase we enjoyed presentations from students for Visual Arts, Design & Technology, Music, Modern Hebrew and Society & Culture.
Due to COVID restrictions, our HSC music students were unable to record a performance to share, however, some footage was captured in their final rehearsal which provides a ‘snapshot’ of their hard work and talent. We are incredibly proud of our students, and our Year 12 teachers, Ms Lyons and Ms Peisley, count themselves very lucky to witness these fantastic musicians in action.
