Written by: Ainsley Hall and published in The Martinsburg Journal on March 14, 2025, link to the article HERE
INWOOD — Musselman High School celebrated the grand opening of The Bucey Cafe on Thursday.
As a part of the Career and Technical Education program at Musselman High, students and program instructors created the cafe to serve both teachers and students as they learn more about cooking and baking.
This CTE program started with Susan Bucey, who handed it down to her previous, student, Rachel Nauman, and Allyson McClintock. As a CTE program, the state requires them to create a simulated workplace. The students came together and decided to create a bakery.
They started by selling food out of the front office until they officially opened the bakery. With help from vocational Teacher Gregory Engle and his CTE students, who helped him with construction, they were able to open the Bucey Cafe this week.
During the ceremony, Principal Alicia Riggleman began the presentation by welcoming guests and thanking everyone who was involved in bringing this project to life.
“Today is a special day for Musselman High School, as we celebrate the grand opening of our bakery — an exciting new chapter for our school and our students,” Riggleman said. “This moment is not just about baked goods and business; it’s about passion, dedication, and the legacy of hard work that defines Musselman High School.”
Berkeley County Schools Superintendent Ryan Saxe also spoke, congratulating all the students and staff members on this new step for the school. He shared that Berkeley County Schools is entering a new era, with plans to create more workforce opportunities for students. He is excited for the future of Musselman High School and the rest of Berkeley County’s schools.
They started by selling food out of the front office until they officially opened the bakery. With help from vocational Teacher Gregory Engle and his CTE students, who helped him with construction, they were able to open the Bucey Cafe this week.
During the ceremony, Principal Alicia Riggleman began the presentation by welcoming guests and thanking everyone who was involved in bringing this project to life.
“Today is a special day for Musselman High School, as we celebrate the grand opening of our bakery — an exciting new chapter for our school and our students,” Riggleman said. “This moment is not just about baked goods and business; it’s about passion, dedication, and the legacy of hard work that defines Musselman High School.”
Berkeley County Schools Superintendent Ryan Saxe also spoke, congratulating all the students and staff members on this new step for the school. He shared that Berkeley County Schools is entering a new era, with plans to create more workforce opportunities for students. He is excited for the future of Musselman High School and the rest of Berkeley County’s schools.
After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, guests could come inside the cafe and order homemade sourdough sandwiches or get some pepperoni rolls, soup, truffles, cookies, brownies, cheesecake or even the students’ famous maple bacon cupcakes.
Musselman High School student Esabeya Marks works as the general manager of the cafe. She is passionate about what she does because she knows people can rely on her. She enjoys working with the other students and helping them learn together.
Opening the cafe and seeing everyone enjoy the food means a lot to Marks and makes all the hard work worth it.
“It makes me happy to see everyone smile,” Marks said. “I love getting to see all the people here and see them sit down to eat and relax.”
Nauman shared that she feels extremely lucky to have so much support for what she does and for all the people who brought this project together. She is proud of her students and how far they’ve come. She watched many of them start out completely overwhelmed, and now, they are confident leaders in the workplace.
“This is their home,” Nauman said. “Students gain confidence in themselves and become leaders. My big thing is that they learn to be kind. When you treat people nicely, they will want to stay and work there. I want my students to make the workplace a kind place.”