Students and community members sit around classroom tables playing a customized Monopoly-style board game. The game board, play money, property cards, and game pieces are spread across the tables as participants take turns, write notes, and discuss strategies. A Monopoly game box is visible on a nearby table. Classroom whiteboards and displays appear in the background.

Students in Danae Boyd’s 11th-grade U.S. History class at New Tech High @ Coppell took a chance on history with a creative Gilded Age Monopoly project that brought the era to life through hands-on learning. Working in teams, students designed and presented custom Monopoly game boards, property cards and rules inspired by the historical events and economic themes of the Gilded Age. The project challenged students to combine historical knowledge, creativity, collaboration and critical thinking while turning classroom lessons into an engaging learning experience. Special thanks to the student teams for their hard work, the facilitators for guiding the process and the external volunteer evaluators for providing meaningful feedback. These students passed Go and demonstrated how project-based learning makes history meaningful, engaging and fun.