POINT PLEASANT — Getting enjoyment from a job is a rewarding experience.

And that’s certainly the case for school cook Sandy Buttrick of Gallipolis Ferry, who has worked as a cook for 15 years and plans to keep working hard at her job.

Buttrick currently works at Point Pleasant Primary School, where she has been for eight years. She also has worked at Hannan High School and Beale Elementary School.

Buttrick said she decided to become a school cook because of her interest in cooking.

“My grandma was always a school cook, and I thought that’s what I’d like to be,” Buttrick said. “And I took a commercial food class at the vocational school.”

She added that the food class as well as her enjoyment of cooking fueled her interest in wanting to make cooking part of her career. According to Buttrick, during her time as a parent volunteer at Beale Elementary School she found out she could apply for a cooking position.

Buttrick described baking as her favorite part of her job.

“I like doing the baking and making rolls. I usually do the rolls and cakes. I enjoy (baking),” she said. “You get the recipe in your head and you automatically do it.”

However, it is the children that make Buttrick’s job worthwhile. She described watching them grow as being very interesting.

“The changes in the kids when they come back each school year (is interesting),” she said, adding that she has seen a lot of children grow up and mature.

The students she interacts with on a daily basis also have enabled Buttrick to form many fond memories on the job. She described the children as making her job very enjoyable.

“Serving (meals to) the kids is (my fondest memory). They like to talk to you when they come through the line or tell you a story from home,” Buttrick said, adding that the preschool students are her favorite.

“(Preschoolers) are so cute acting. They say really cute things and come up with some good stories,” she said.

Buttrick said that despite the fun, being a school cook is a very demanding job. She described sorting and putting up new food orders as being the most difficult task because food items sometimes don’t arrive on time. She also said she dislikes the cold freezers.

“(Being a school cook) is very hard work. Making sure that you get a count of kids every day to fix the right amount of food is (difficult),” Buttrick said.

In addition, Buttrick described making sandwich meals as being difficult because the meal has to be made in various steps as opposed to bigger meals, such as chicken fingers, which can be made in one step.

Despite the difficult aspects, Buttrick said she enjoys her job and hopes to continue work as a school cook.

“I like (being a cook), and it’s a good job,” she said, adding that meeting new students and spending time with her co-workers makes her job better.

Buttrick said her favorite meal to prepare is spaghetti and rolls, which also is a favorite of the students. She said she has always enjoyed making this meal, which is one dish that has remained mostly the same during her years as a school cook.

Buttrick also described school menus as becoming much healthier over the years, adding that schools no longer serve french fries and have added healthier foods.

“We have a lot of fruit and veggies and have salad bars that we didn’t have when I first started,” she said. “There are state guidelines that we have to go by. We were on review last year and we passed.”

Buttrick described her workdays as being quite busy. She arrives at work early in the morning and starts cooking breakfast at 6:30 a.m. Students then are served breakfast, and then the cooks clean directly after the meal. From there, Buttrick begins to prepare lunch. Then students are served the lunchtime meal, and the cafeteria is cleaned following the meal. In between these tasks, food must be sorted and ready for the next day.

“You have to make sure you have food out for that day. On Thursday we fill out the food order for the next week. We get groceries on Wednesday — that’s a hard day because you have to get groceries sorted and lunch ready,” Buttrick said.

As Buttrick plans to continue her job as a school cook, she encouraged others to find a job they enjoy and work hard at it.

“Be to work on time and get along with your co-workers,” she said.

This is one piece of advice Buttrick has applied to her own life as she has formed wonderful relationships with her co-workers and the students she serves, which has led to a fulfilling profession.

(If you know someone who could be a potential candidate for an upcoming “Day in the Life” feature, e-mail his or her name and contact information to mdrnews@mydailyregister.com or call 304-675-1333.)