About 300 seniors will graduate from Cumberland County Technical Education Center (TEC) in Vineland in May and one honorary student will retire. The retiree, Meadow, has been attending TEC since 2019 without graduating, but no worries, Meadow is a dog.
Named in honor of Meadow Pollock, who was killed while trying to save another student in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida seven years ago, K-9 Meadow is an active threat response canine who brings a unique standard of security to a regional high school with some of the highest achieving students.
But Meadow is not your typical attack dog.
“Students who are protected by armed guards and mean dogs with muzzles and a tight leash are going to feel less secure, not more,” said Meadow’s trainer Joseph “Joe Nick” Nicholas. “They’ll be scared to death of their own dog.”
It’s also been shown that students are more likely to pass information about possible trouble to a friendly dog and handler than to a traditional armed guard.
K-9 Meadow is trained to be integrated into the school community in addition to protecting it. She is a participant in the school culture and is social and friendly to its members. In fact, she is so loved that she receives flowers, stuffed animals, cards, and other items of appreciation from teachers and members of the student body. Her handler, Campus Safety Officer Steve Manera, displays many in his office.
CCTEC Superintendent Dr. Dina Rossi with Meadow, shown when Meadow’s tenure began six years ago. RIGHT: Meadow with handler Steve Manera during school hours on their beat, the hallways of CCTEC.
Meadow has 1,300 Instagram followers and many You Tube videos. She even has her own merch, including T-shirts, sweatshirts, and a facsimile plushie, all sold to support her work.
If she were a graduating senior, Meadow might be chosen as most popular.
“At the same time, though, Meadow is not a therapy dog and we really don’t allow students to pet or touch her for reasons of safety,” said Capt. Andre Lopez, director of School Safety at TEC.
“Students love to be around Meadow for both her personality and her protection,” said Manera, a former law enforcement professional.
Protection is the essence of Meadow’s job. If ever needed, she is a precisely trained attack dog that would instantly stop a shooter in any way necessary. There have been no active threats in Meadow’s tenure.
After six years of service, Manera and Meadow will retire together in June, for she is his dog. They were trained together and work as an inseparable team. She is also part of Manera’s family for life, a bond that is common in law enforcement.
The personable, intelligent, and alert canine was trained at the Atlantic County K-9 Academy at ACIT in Mays Landing. Nicholas and Brandon Womack are the founders of Skool Dogs, Inc., which provided Meadow to TEC.
She was the first active threat response canine ever deployed in any school in the country.
TEC superintendent Dr. Dina Rossi’s team, along with Lopez and the Board of Education, decided to partner with Skool Dogs in 2019 to bring this innovative program to the school after extensive discussion and evaluation.
“Having K-9 Meadow at our school has been transformative,” Rossi said. “Not only does she provide an extra layer of security, but she also brings joy and comfort to our students and staff. Meadow is truly part of our family.”
Meadow is capable of sprinting 30 mph when released. Meadow can smell munitions, firearms and ammunition from up to 800 feet away, She has proven in numerous drills that she can rush at top speed through a crowded hallway of terrified students and teachers, concentrating only on the gun without distraction and neutralizing the gunman.
When the TEC community has to say goodbye to Meadow and Manera, it will say hello to KC and his handler Dominic Ferrari, who will carry on the pacesetting work of the active threat response dog in the school.
KC is named for Kendrick Castillo, the only student killed in a school attack at the STEM School Highlands Ranch in Colorado in 2019. When the shooter began firing, Kendrick tackled him and sacrificed his own life to save his classmates.
Ferrari is a former law enforcement officer who, as Manera did, will now put his life on hold to be not only the handler, but the permanent companion of KC.
As I walked the halls with Manera and Meadow, I saw her eyes constantly in motion. I also saw her look at her handler with the look of love, no other way to put it.
Manera and Meadow also patrol for part of each day at Deerfield Township School and Rowan College of South Jersey-Cumberland Campus.
I saw her walk gently on her leash, never straining, never distracted, casually eyeing students and teachers, but not approaching them. Meadow is mellow, but if she were ever released do her job, she’d do everything necessary to protect the students.
“The students and staff look forward to seeing her; she cares about them,” said Manera. “She’ll protect them, they know that.”
It’s hard to find and train canines with such an unusual skill set, Nicholas pointed out.
“It’s extremely difficult to find a prospect that is the right dog for this kind of work,” he said. “When I train police dogs, I can select a good percentage that will be okay. When I train an active threat canine, it’s one out of a couple hundred that fit the bill.
“They have to look good,” he continued. “They have to have a good personality and relate well with people; and then they have to unerringly be able to do their job if they were ever called on—without regard to their own life or safety.” (Manera would engage the gunman in any confrontation.)
“We’ve never had an incident where she had to go into action, and that’s a really good thing,” said Manera. Because, you know, it makes my stomach hurt a little bit; it would be such a terrible thing, terribly unfathomable.”
“Look, we’re not trying to solve all the problems of the world; we’re just trying to save the lives of children, even one child,” said Nicholas. “That child could be an only child in a family. That child could be your child.”
