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Student Announcer: Welcome to Mondays with Maria!

Announcer: Presented by ADDITION Financial Credit Union. Here's OCPS Superintendent Dr. Maria Vazquez.

Dr. Vazquez: Hi everyone. Thank you for that wonderful introduction. Now, I know we've always said our district police, canine Coco, is the district's most beloved employee, but I think she might have some competition. Officer Glenn Ford is here with me today. He is from our district police unit, and with him, meet Kelli, we have our second police canine. A wonderful donor came forward, which gave us the opportunity to get a second canine. Welcome, Officer Ford and Kelli.

Officer Ford: Thank you. I'm glad to be here.

Dr. Vazquez: Yeah, we're so excited. So, let's start with getting some background for our viewers. Sure. And how this all came about, and how you became connected to our canine program.

Officer Ford: I was actually asked by Captain Envall to be a canine handler here with the district. I was a canine handler with my prior department and retired in February. And so, retirement was short. I started here in August. I love working with dogs, and when they gave me the opportunity, it was definitely something to do. And I, you know, keeping the school safe is important, and Kelli is a new addition that's going to, you know, help and add on to Coco. I don't want to take anything away from her, but I think Kelli would be a good addition.

Dr. Vazquez: Oh, I think so. So, I think the next question and what everyone wants to know, I know I do, is, has Kelli met Coco, and if they have met, how did it go?

Officer Ford: She has; they've met a couple of times. They've actually been hanging out in the hallway for a little bit this morning, even. They have no problem with each other. They've done the, you know, the initial nose sniff and who are you and who are you and why? I think Coco's saying, why are you here? But they've gotten along very well. So, they're ready to, I think, do work together and, and be a, be a good team with each other. Okay. So, they've gotten along really well.

Dr. Vazquez: So, I know that Kelli has already undergone some training. But she still has a little bit more to go before she's officially able to work. So, will she be working in the same area as Coco in the same field, or is she going to be part of a different safety team?

Officer Ford: She'll be working together with Coco. We'll work somewhat together, somewhat separated, but she is going to be trained as a gun dog, just like Coco is. They'll be doing the same, same function, if you will. But we will work, you know, sometimes, like I said, sometimes together as a large team and sometimes separately.

Dr. Vazquez: Right. And that also includes our random screenings, correct? Where we go to the schools randomly and check for weapons? 

Officer Ford: Correct. We go around, and we've been going; she's been with me. As I said, we got her in October. So she's only been here a short time, but she goes with me every day. I go with the screening team. So she does go to the schools with us. But she hasn't started working yet.

Dr. Vazquez: So, that was my next question. Has she been to our schools, and has she met any of our students or any of our employees?

Officer Ford: She, she's been to the schools. She's been with us every day to the schools. But she has not met anybody yet until she gets done with her training. We kind of want to keep her secret, I guess. Keep her undercover. She's met people at the district. She's met everybody in the building here pretty much. So she has, we've socialized her, you know, with, with everybody around here. And then, you know, eventually, once we get her trained, I've got four weeks of training in January, and once we get done with that, she'll be deployed with Coco in the schools, and then she'll get to meet everybody then. 

Dr. Vazquez: She's amazing. I mean, I have to tell you, she is a perfectly behaved second child.

Officer Ford: Absolutely.

Dr. Vazquez: Well, I'm so thankful to our donor and that we are able to add another canine, and that you're part of our OCPS family. So, I think we might have a surprise guest. Okay. Come on out, Coco. Let's see how this goes. 

Officer Ford: That's a good girl. Yes. Good girls.

Dr. Vazquez: They're, they're great. Look at that girl. 

Officer Ford: Yeah. They don't mind each other at all.

Dr. Vazquez: Little oh, oh my gosh. What a pair. Thank you so much.

Officer Ford: They're really good together. Absolutely.

Dr. Vazquez: Thank you so much for being here. Thank you all for watching. Don't forget to like, follow, and subscribe. We'll have more of our conversation on our podcast. Just go to wherever you get your podcast and search for Mondays with Maria. Have a great week.

Officer Ford: Thank you.

Dr. Vazquez: Oh my gosh, they are awesome together.

Officer Howarth: My name is Brian Howarth, and this is K9 Coco. And we're the new K9 team for OCPS District Police.

Officer Howarth: So, on a day-to-day basis, Coco and I will travel around from school to school doing weapons screenings. She cuts down on the search time. Dogs' noses are a hundred to 200,000 times more sensitive than ours in smelling. So, to go in and do a search that may take 20 minutes for us to go through and search everything by hand, Coco does in about three to five minutes. I started with the district police in April of 2023, and Coco and I were teamed up towards the end of April. So, we did a lot of bonding the first couple of months before he went to training

Jack Murray, Director of Operations, Southern Coast K9: It was just a bonding period with Brian and his dog. The dog had experience. Brian had experience. So, we bring him here, and we put him through a refresher course. It helps the team bond together. It helps them know how each other works. 

Officer Howarth: Good girl! Good job, girl.

Officer Howarth: Being a handler is more than just walking the dog. You have to interpret what the dog is trying to tell you and trying to take care of the dog. So, Coco does come home with me. She lives with me. She runs around the house with my two other dogs when she's at home. She's just the dog. So she's playing with the other dogs and just being a dog.

Announcer: For an extended conversation. On today's topic, listen to the Mondays with Maria podcast. Available wherever you get your podcasts. Mondays with Maria is presented by Addition Financial Credit Union. Count us in for every step of your financial journey. Learn more at Additionfi.com. For more OCPS news and information, visit TheSlice.OCPS.net. I'm your announcer. Emily Hannon, a student at Audubon Park School. Thanks for watching, and have a great week.