Teens baking at Lovin’ Oven

Sonoma Valley Teen Services’ (SVTS) Lovin’ Oven program is a model workplace experience for teens in the community. The teen-run and staffed Lovin’ Oven program supplies 900 homemade cookies each week to the No Name Cafe at Sonoma Valley High School, another project of SVTS. On a typical shift, Lovin’ Oven employs four teens who each work approximately four-and-a-half hours a week, earning around $40 a week. Teens meet at the center after school to make the dough, which is transferred to No Name Cafe staff to make fresh cookies on site. At 50 cents a pop, the fresh baked cookies are a big hit, selling more than 900 a week. Another very popular project for the business is its holiday pie sale. Last Thanksgiving, Lovin’ Oven sold 165 pies, made from scratch, to the community at $10 to $12 each. The Lovin’ Oven bakers submit a resume and are hired and overseen by Teen Services Executive Director Cristin Lawrence. “This is a real job, and the students take it seriously,” said Lawrence, pictured here with Lovin’ Oven employee Norma Martinez, a freshman at Sonoma Valley High School.