Finding a job in Marin County as a high schooler is no easy task as age requirements, lack of experience in specific fields and blatantly minimal time in a day get in the way. Although they can be hard to find, The Shack in downtown Larkspur, World Wrapps in Corte Madera and The Cave just next to Redwood offer great jobs to high school students looking to build work experience and make money. Students across grades are exemplary of this growing “working student” culture. 

Each location has engaging work environments that allow students to expand their professional skills. 

Senior Hannah Gould has been working at The Shack since the beginning of the 2024 summer and has strengthened various skills over the last eight months.  

“[Working at The Shack has] improved my customer service skills. I have [also] learned to work with food in a safe way and have gotten better at dealing with money,” Gould said.

Not only does the ice cream parlor offer job experience, but it also creates a chance for Gould to make new friends and interact with Marin locals.

 “My favorite part of my job is definitely meeting and interacting with the customers and the other people working with me,” Gould said. 

Making connections throughout the Marin community can help teens in the future. World Wrapps in Town Center is a great job opportunity for students to engage with Marin locals. Sophomore Alli Corvi started her job at World Wrapps just before the 2024-25 school year started with no previous job experience in the food industry. 

Corvi appreciates how working at World Wrapps has taught her organizational skills.

“There are a lot of parts of my job that I need to remember, which can be stressful when it is busy. But, by staying organized, I can achieve everything I need to,” Corvi said. 

Organization can be a helpful skill for developing maturity in time management. Learning how to keep a busy life tidy can lead to a more balanced, prosperous future. The Shack and World Wrapps are two popular places to eat in Marin but are not the only places where students have found positive work experiences. 

Sophomore Molly Pipitone works at The Cave, a gymnastics gym just a few minutes from Redwood’s campus. She has worked at The Cave for almost three years and teaches kids ages 4 to 11 acrobatic tricks.

“I teach pretty basic gymnastics skills such as summersaults, cartwheels [and] using the beams and the tumble tracks,” Pipitone said.

The Caves’ work environment is exciting and light-hearted, connecting Pipitone to her childhood of learning gymnastics at The Cave. 

“It is really great reliving those memories and teaching kids the tricks I learned when I went here,” Pipitone said.

Between extensive tests and harsh deadlines, managing work shifts and still having enough time to spend with friends and family, having a job can often suffocate students with too many responsibilities.

Part-time working students experience a lot of pressure and stress from teachers, parents and managers. When asked about her stress levels since starting her job at The Shack, Gould touched on the importance of being proactive in the adjustment process. 

“It was hard to adjust [to my schedule] at first, but after getting a good routine down, I became less stressed,” Gould said. 

Gould has come up with creative methods for balancing her multifaceted responsibilities learning to juggle her busy routine.

“Asking for shifts later in the night so there’s more time to finish homework before I have to leave [has helped me manage my time],” Gould said.

As sophomores, Corvi and Pipitone both feel that the stress of managing their jobs and their personal lives was minimally challenging since their workloads at school were relatively sustainable. 

“I only work once a week, on Sundays, which was a bit of an adjustment [in my schedule], since normally that would be my day to catch up on homework,” Corvi said. 

It took Corvi more time to adjust to her work schedule, not because of the demanding hours but because of added time constraints on completing her homework.

“Once I got my routine down and learned to manage my homework before work, it was pretty stress-free,” Corvi said.

Pipitone, similarly to Corvi, learned to finish her schoolwork before her shifts because she would anticipate being tired when she got home and preferred not to have her homework hanging over her head.

The beginning of a new year can be overwhelming in change, but employed students have adjusted to fit a job into their schedules alongside school responsibilities. Gould, Corvi and Pipitone have come to see their jobs as an enjoyable pastime and appreciate simultaneously garnering life skills for future use.