Gloria Hill watched with knowing delight as a gaggle of youngsters played
 the board game she created more than 20 years ago. Boisterous eruptions of
 laughter and voices raised in glee signaled that she had made the right
 decision to put the game back in circulation, after years of keeping it on
 a shelf in her den.
 
 Then, when Terry Shelton, 11, blurted out in the midst of his winning
 streak, "This game is sweeeet. This game is tight," she knew she had one
 of the best endorsements that any budding entrepreneur could want. Better
 yet, the former schoolteacher was thrilled to see that the game was doing
 what it was designed to do -- helping youngsters explore their cultural
 heritage and their own family history.
 
 The children playing "The Game of Roots" in the activity room of the Roots
 Public Charter School in Northwest Washington one Saturday morning
 exemplified Hill's enduring concern that young people and old alike need
 to know and honor their history. Her board game, Hill said, is a fun way
 for them to do it.
 
 A woman with a quiet demeanor and a determined will, Hill carries a strong
 belief in the importance of family. "One of the reasons I felt so driven
 to develop this game stems in large part from the fact that I learned
 early in life to place a big priority on family and what it represents,"
 she said. "I learned that it is a blessing to be a part of a good family.
 Often we miss this fact."
 
 Like millions of other people, Hill's interest in her family's history
 grew 25 years ago following "Roots," Alex Haley's epic novel and
 blockbuster made-for-television movie. "Roots" chronicled Haley's search
 for his African ancestors and prompted people the world over to trace
 their family origins. In the ensuing years, more and more families, like
 Hill's, have reveled in their collective heritage during the hot days of
 summer at the now-ubiquitous family reunions where games are played and
 memories are shared.
 
 Hill has directed her missionary-like energy to promoting her board game
 everywhere she can -- on her Web site ( www.gehill.com ), in schools, at the
 National Genealogical Conference, family reunions and department stores. A
 few years after its initial entrance onto the competitive board-game
 scene, the Game of Roots came to rest on a shelf in the den of Hill's
 Baltimore home. Then late last year, Hill's daughter-in-law, Wendy,
 spotted one of the games and asked about it. Hill said Wendy later showed
 the game to her mother, who in turn encouraged Hill to reintroduce the
 game.
 
 Hill was a teacher of gifted and talented elementary school children in
 the Baltimore school system when Haley's "Roots" moved her to action. She
 said children did not seem as engaged as adults in tracing their roots. "I
 began to realize that many didn't know their grandparents' name. They may
 have known their first names or the name they called them, but not the
 last name," she said. So she devised a game, and then tried it out on her
 students.
 
 "When I saw the response from the children in my class, I said this is
 something that could go farther," Hill recounted. She received another
 push when she met Haley in 1977 at a reception sponsored by the Maryland
 Commission on Afro-History and Culture. She told him about her idea and he
 encouraged her to move forward.
 
 In the Game of Roots, players earned points for knowing the names of
 family members and for an awareness of famous crusaders for human rights,
 such as Marcus Garvey and Frederick Douglass. Players make their way
 around 40 spaces on the board, trying to avoid penalty cards and gathering
 bonus cards as they accumulate the most money.
 
 Hill's original game focused on African American heritage and later was
 modified to highlight the cultural roots of diverse ethnic groups. A
 second version of the game, released in February, covers a broader range
 of families.
 
 "I'm looking at the time we are living in. It is a multicultural society
 now. We have to focus on how much more we are alike than different. And we
 have to appreciate the fact that we all are unique," she said. "It doesn't
 take anything from what the original Roots (game) was about. It was about
 family."
 
  Earlier this year, Hill spent time talking to principals in the District
 about using her game in schools. One of them was Bernida Thompson of the
 Roots Public Charter School. Thompson liked the game and added it to the
 educational games that her students use. "The drawing card was the name,
 and the fact that I could identify and the children could identify with
 their roots," she said. "This is a tool that is helping me do what I'm
 already trying to do.
 
 Thompson started her first African-centered school, Roots Activity
 Learning Center, 25 years ago and opened the public charter school two
 years ago. She said she likes the way that the game personalizes history
 for children, and that it connects the children with their roots by
 linking the past to something or someone they know. "You have to stand
 where a child is to give meaning to that child," she said.
 
 Her students enjoy playing the game, Thompson said. That was evident one
 spring Saturday morning, when several students attending a rite-of-passage
 program sponsored by the school took their turns at the board. Six boys
 and girls answered questions such as, "Who was the first black person to
 run for president?"
 
 Hill watched as one student excitedly blurted out, "Jesse Owens," before
 quickly being corrected with gushes of "Jesse Jackson!"
 
 Yusuf Thorne, 11, said he has played the game before. "I like that it
 helped me to learn about my ancestors," he said. "I didn't know a lot."
 
 Hill enjoyed standing on the sidelines as the youngsters ribbed each other
 about incorrect answers and helped each other discover the right ones.
 
 Even more, she relished the fact that they were learning important pieces
 of their history as they laughed and played.