Erie 1 BOCES Students Bring Topiary Tales to Life

The latest exhibit at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens, “Topiary Tales”, has amazed visitors for weeks, thanks in large part to Erie 1 BOCES students.

The exhibit features larger-than-life animal topiaries made from plants and other natural materials, creating a whimsical storybook woodland forest.

The impressive metal topiaries were created by welding students in Mr. Schoenhals and Mr. Feeney’s classes at the Potter Career and Technical Education (CTE) Center. 

“They loved it, they worked as a team and it gave a lot of experience,” said Feeney.

The project gave the welding classes a first-hand look at the process of taking a project from conception to completion, only given photo examples to build the topiaries from. Mr Feeney's students created a turtle, a bear, and a peacock, while Mr. Schoenhals' class created a deer and a rabbit.

“It was a quick turnaround,” said Feeney. “Them being able to work as a team and get it done and have pride in the project, as opposed to just doing something in the shop, that’s way more fulfilling for them.”

“Knowing expectations and meeting them is the most important thing,” Feeney added. “When you have expectations of a client or a customer, and then you meet them above what they were expecting, it's unbelievable how great of an experience that is.”

Once the metal topiaries were complete, they were handed over to the Botanical Gardens who started working on completing the animal displays over the summer. The final touches of the exhibit were completed in September with the assistance of students in the Erie 1 BOCES New Visions Plant Science program. 

“The fall show install is always one of the best experiences for my students to start the school year with. They gain specific hands-on experience with the staff for two to three days of solid install time,” said Plant Science Instructor Emaleigh Odell. “They get hands-on experience with the plant material and it's always a great introduction into the plant collection located here at the gardens.”

Plant Science is a new Erie 1 BOCES program available for seniors, where the Botanical Gardens is the classroom. “Topiary Tales” is one of the many projects that students are involved with at the gardens.

“The students greatly enjoyed the install and have enjoyed helping maintain it. They are built into the watering schedule here weekly, which allows them to see these exhibits and houses weekly,” said Odell. “The turtle is the one topiary with live plants, and the students have enjoyed learning the watering process and watching that topiary thrive through this show.”

Collaborating with different programs and students in a real-world environment is a key benefit of choosing a CTE program, and “Topiary Tales” is just the latest example.

“It’s priceless,” said Feeney. “Just the personal feeling that you went above what they were expecting and how much happier they were. For them to have that experience and gain that confidence is fantastic.”

Listed below are the students who worked on "Topiary Tales"—

Mr. Schoehals' Welding class: Jordan Cleveland, Angelina Hernandez, Gia Shelvay, Maximus Wendling, Jon Shattuck, Chris Dunning

Mr. Feeney's Welding class: Mackensey Nyhart, Lue VanOrder, Caden Newell, Jacob Budziszewski

Ms. Odell's Plant Science class: Finn Crowther, Julia Crumbaugh, Jack Duffy, Lillyan Folga