From Countryside Village just across Pacific street, to Loveland Plaza a little ways down the road, students from Westside High School work a variety of jobs at local small businesses within their community. After school and on the weekends, you can find students swirling soft serve at Countryside Cones or organizing books at the neighborhood bookstore, The Bookworm.
Since the ice cream shop’s opening in summer of 2022, Westside students have been on both sides of the counter at Countryside Cones. Junior Aiden Meyerson has been an employee since the shop opened.
“The best part about working at Countryside Cones is the great environment and making customers happy,” Meyerson said. “My favorite memory from working was experimenting with new cones for the monthly cone.”
Hosting events for programs at the high school such as Westside Dance Marathon’s ice cream social, has quickly helped the new addition to Countryside become an integral part of the community.
“Countryside cones has impacted the community by bringing good ice cream to the district and smiles to customers,” Meyerson said.
At local bookstore, The Bookworm, a few Westside students spend their afternoons selling books and stocking shelves. Junior Liam Plumb has been a student employee for almost a year now.
“We’re a big supplier for the elementary schools’ libraries and [we] help with book fairs,” Plumb said. “The store also just helps in the Westside neighborhood. They help with a ton of fundraisers and things like that.”
Not only does it benefit the community, but working at a small business brings in new and familiar faces for younger employees to help out and interact with.
“There’s a lot of people that, you know, that come in and you can kind of be like, ‘Oh, hey!’ if you haven’t seen them in a long time, things like that,” Plumb said. “And it’s just nice to help people out there.”
Both Westside students and community members can reap the benefits of supporting local businesses. Keep an eye out for familiar students working at your favorite shops this school year, like Countryside Cones and The Bookworm.
