CBO Walks - Building Empathy and Understanding Across the Departments

As the restrictions of COVID were lifted this year and staff became more comfortable with visiting school sites, CBO Walks resumed with non-school based staff in the MDUSD Business Services Department. These walks, hosted by Chief Business Officer Lisa Gonzales, are designed to strengthen the understanding of staff on how their work impacts students and staff.

At least a few times each month, a CBO Walk welcomes staff from many departments to visit school sites. Our support staff from departments like transportation, fiscal, technology, purchasing, food and nutrition, maintenance and facilities join each other to walk school hallways, interact with students, and build relationships with staff who they might otherwise only email or speak to on the phone. The empathy built through the walks help to connect the adults across the MDUSD system.

One of the recent walks was at El Dorado Middle School during lunchtime, where students had a chance to tell the food and nutrition staff about the meals they love the most, and this feedback was unsolicited. Victor Adame, Payroll Manager, is new to his role and MDUSD. He quickly responded with his interest to attend a walk and shared, "Sometimes we are so focused on the numbers that we may be disconnected from the human side of our services and the impact of our work." The walk helped him put a friendly face to the staff he connects with and refreshed his commitment to serve all MDUSD staff with a strong customer service focus.

Laura Warner, MDUSD's Classified Employee of the Year and Lead Buyer from the Purchasing Department, commented, "I enjoyed discussing which improvements would be valuable to improve the image of specific schools and any functionality that needs attention." She can't wait to attend one at another school site.

Fiscal Analyst Frank Monaghan finds the walks valuable for many reasons. Not only does he find it valuable to have the personal interactions on the walks, but "it humanizes the relationships on both sides." He finds the time on sites a good reminder that all staff are working toward the same goals: educating students. He added, "watching the principals and teachers interacting with students really drives home the importance of what I do in support of their efforts."

Leadership is about getting out to school sites and bridging the work so students are at the forefront of the work of all staff.