The Black and Gold Collective was designed to help students relax and have some interaction without the pressures of class. Students signed up for a variety of fun virtual classes. 

Counselor Lisa Panquites and Student Activities Coordinator April Nakamura teamed up to create the sessions.

In most classes during school, teachers don’t make students turn on their cameras and the class is silent, except for the teachers. In the BGC sessions, everyone was encouraged to turn on their cameras. 

“We thought if we structured it that way, you could take off the mic whenever you felt like it,” Panquites said, “You could see other people talk story and not have to just sit there and listen.”

I signed up for a few BGC sessions, and I saw that most of the classes were being led by school staff and alumni. For example, Peter Quach is an alumnus who works at Pearl Harbor. In his session, he showed us how to change a tire and some other basic car maintenance. The embroidery class was led by Haily Tanaka, who works in the main office. She showed us basic sewing techniques and gave out practice kits to participating students. Talking in that class was easy and it was fun being with other people with the same interests.

All the sessions had a presenter and a student host. I volunteered to be a host in a session I attended.  I had to get to know the presenter a little, ask questions, and promote conversations. This was helpful to avoid awkward pauses. The conversation and questions went smoothly. With other people talking and having fun, it was easy to relax and join in the conversation. 

The Black and Gold Collective event accomplished its goal. I watched as cameras came on and people talked. These sessions did not make active participation or attendance mandatory. There were no grades or homework. Just some time to have fun and maybe discover a new hobby.