The April 16 Bethlehem Area School District committee meetings started promptly at 6 p.m. with a slightly different approach than normal meetings.

Board members turned their focus to the big screen and together with the audience watched the first 25 minutes of the recent PBS39 special, Future Chefs. The Future Chefs competition is a nationwide program sponsored by food preparation company Sodexo.

The local competition aired Monday night and members of the board could not resist the urge to watch the program live. The program featured six students from Bethlehem area schools, competing with the supervision of trained chefs to produce Asian fusion themed dishes.

The dishes included General Tso’s chicken, tofu teriyaki veggie tacos, and Asian spaghetti and meatballs, amongst others. Members of the board and the audience watched with amazement as the children cooked with greater skill than most adults, and laughed as the children answered the host’s questions with witty responses.

Unfortunately for those in attendance, the board cut the program off with five minutes remaining, and advised everyone to tune into PBS39 to watch the program again, and see who the final champion was.

For more information, please visit the PBS39 website.