Building The Future At AMIT’s New Kfar Batya Campus
The Lookstein Center powers innovation at AMIT’s new campus.
The Gogya Building that houses the Lookstein Center on the Kfar Batya campus Credit: AMIT)
A hub of collaborative research and implementation, The Audrey Lookstein Educators’ Innovation Center is an integral part of AMIT’s new, cutting-edge Gabel & Straus Family Campus at AMIT Kfar Batya. The Ra’anana campus—home to the Evan & Layla Green Family Foundation Gogya Center, Chella & Moise, z’l, Safra Athletic Complex, Gwen Straus High School, and the Lookstein Center—will launch AMIT’s groundbreaking approach to revolutionize education in Israel, and beyond.
Dedicated by an anonymous donor, the Lookstein Center bridges two of the passions that have shaped Audrey Lookstein’s life: education and AMIT. Along with her husband, Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, Audrey has always prioritized education, teaching both elementary school and college level classes. Her involvement with AMIT expanded her focus to a global level, paving the way for disadvantaged children across the world to create a path to a successful future.
AMIT President Shari Safra said, “People like the Looksteins, and the anonymous donor honoring Audrey, are making this innovative center of learning possible for the children of AMIT. We are proud to partner with them in ensuring that the future of Israel rests in educated and values-driven young people.”
The Looksteins’ long history with AMIT began when Audrey and Rabbi Haskel met through Mizrachi HaTzair, the youth branch of Mizrachi Women (as AMIT was known), where they discovered a shared love for Israel. After they married, they spent Shabbat of their honeymoon at the Kfar Batya Youth Village in Ra’anana, Israel, soaking in the “spirit of Kfar Batya.”
The couple stayed connected to the organization and Audrey later co-founded and was the first president of the AMIT Gayle Schechter Chapter on the Upper East and West Sides of Manhattan. She also acted as chair and vice president of the National Board of AMIT, and she and Rabbi Lookstein were honorary chairs of AMIT’s President’s Circle for many years.
Set to open in the fall of 2026, the center will function as a national training hub for educators, focusing on necessary skills for the 21st century. Teachers will hone these skills themselves and pass them along to their students with the support of lesson plans, activity guides, digital resources—and AMIT’s strong, professional community.
These are the seven core skills AMIT has identified as defining the future of learning: decision making, communication, teamwork, critical and creative thinking, resilience, adaptability, and interpersonal awareness.
Simulation spaces that mimic real-life scenarios will challenge students and educators to utilize these foundational skills to best respond to their predicament.
Each skill simulation creates an urgent, intense situation in which participants must make choices under pressure. They then receive personal feedback and refine their approach, improving their response each time.
This methodology augments AMIT’s skills curriculum taught throughout its schools, showing students the benefit of these skills inside the classroom, and their importance in the real world.
The innovation taking place at the Lookstein Center—and across AMIT’s new campus—is reshaping learning for both educators and students. Guided by a commitment to advancing Israel’s educational landscape, AMIT is preparing students to meet the future of learning as leaders and contributors to the country.
Join the Lookstein family and support AMIT’s efforts to build Israel into Education Nation. To donate and for more information, contact [email protected].
