Board of education members and several parents were treated to an early Thanksgiving dinner Friday at Pocahontas County High School, courtesy of the students in the ProStart class.

ProStart teacher Teresa Mullen planned the dinner to showcase the students' achievements, as well as give them a sneak peek into the culinary profession.

"The ProStart program is designed to be an introduction into becoming a culinary service professional so I think this is a good experience for them to see what it's really like to be in a restaurant," Mullen said. "It's a smaller scale, so it's not quite as intense, but it still gives them a good idea of what is going to be expected of them."

As students piled plates high with turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, cranberry salad and vegetables, it was evident they were excited about the new part of their education.

Several of the students plan to enter the culinary field and said serving a dinner has been a nice addition to the regular cooking class.

Mullen is no stranger to the rigors of culinary school. An alum of the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Academy of Culinary Arts, she is using her experience as well as the ProStart curriculum to prepare the students for the future.

"They're doing really well," she said. "We've had lots of positive feedback from the dinner."

The students will serve a dinner for Christmas and a special Valentine's Day dinner for students. They will also prepare the FFA banquet meal.