History of the Middle East and North Africa is a recently introduced elective at Cincinnati Country Day High School in Ohio. Launched for the first time in 2022, the course is still in its initial stages, and I am working on shaping its content with a primary focus on how to maintain students’ interests in the subject. In essence, the key question is: How can we employ pedagogical frameworks, activities, and resources to keep the students engaged? Based on analyses of surveys conducted at the end of each semester and in-person discussions with my students, I have drawn some conclusions that I would like to share with graduate students, college professors, and experts in the field. Firstly, students show less interest in reading academic books; instead, they prefer summaries of scholarly writings and engagement with activities such as interactive maps and games. Secondly, the students are intrigued by court culture and Islamic practices. Any activities exposing them to the diversity of life, religion, and culture in the Islamic past prove to be effective in maintaining engagement. Thirdly, the students express fatigue with continuous emphasis on diversity and inclusion. They prefer opportunities to experience cultural diversity in less supervised circumstances independently. Projects allowing them to step out of their cultural comfort zones and explore the Islamic past and present tend to engage them more effectively. Finally, my work emphasizes the importance of collaboration between American high schools and colleges to bridge the gap in Middle Eastern curriculums. High schools require the support of colleges to underscore the importance of the Middle East from a humanistic and cultural perspective raising cultural awareness among young Americans. In the current global context, discussions on the culture and identity in the Middle East can be overshadowed by discourses of war, violence, and terrorism. Therefore, creating educational pathways that emphasize cultural understanding is crucial.