West Virginia Press Association
Buckhannon, W.Va. (April 7, 2025) – Media are invited to attend and cover the April 9-11 Landscape Technician training course for high school students that the West Virginia Nursery and Landscape Association (WVNLA), Pierpont Community and Technical College, and Buckhannon-Upshur High School has organized. The three-day training program includes both classroom and hands-on experience in landscaping.
The students will be in a classroom during the morning of Wednesday, April 9, at Innovation Center, 21 East Main Street in Buckhannon, and in the afternoon receiving hands-on equipment instruction at Jawbone Park. They will learn how to install a landscape design there on Thursday (April 10) afternoon. Thursday afternoon would provide the most interesting footage/photos.
Jawbone Park is on Madison Street in Buckhannon: https://visitbuckhannon.org/locations/jawbone-park/
Julie Robinson, executive director of WVNLA, will be on-site to assist media on Wednesday, April 9. On Thursday (April 10) and Friday (April 11), Pierpont CTC’s Caleb Davis will be on hand to coordinate.
Those who are playing key roles in the training include:
Carla “Susie” McCoy, a student counselor at Buckhannon Upshur High School.
Caleb Davis of Pierpont Community and Technical College, who will provide instruction and certification in hand tool use and safety on April 11.
WVNLA instructors Michael Biafore (Biafore Landscape Development in Morgantown) and Bobby Gompers (Highland Landscaping and Highland Nursery in Buckhannon) will provide classroom instruction on plant identification, landscape design, safety, and equipment. In the field they will demonstrate power tool usage and oversee a design installation.
All students who complete the training will receive certificates of completion on Friday, April 11.
