A MasterChef winner paid a special visit to a Glasgow primary school after they opened their brand new STEM room.
St Mungo's Primary School, in the city centre, welcomed their fellow Glaswegian Gary Maclean to be part of the grand opening, with the top chef looking to pass on his knowledge within the industry to the pupils.
After starting his cooking career when he was a teenager, the chef from Knightswood was appointed as the head chef of the 55BC restaurant in Glasgow at the age of 22 after developing a love for cooking at Knightswood Secondary School.
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Gary then applied to be on MasterChef which saw him beat 47 other professional cooks to become the winner of the ninth series in 2016.
In 2017, he was named Scotland's first National Chef.
And now with the opening of the science, technologies, home economics and maths (STEM) room, the 52-year-old has applauded the effort the primary school have put in to include a cooking area for pupils.
He said: "The facilities here are amazing and I think it just shows you what a bit of thought and thinking out the box can achieve.
"This room is primarily a multi-function room where it can be used for lots and lots of different things.
"But to get cooking in here for primary kids is incredible.
"My big mantra is everybody needs to learn to cook and this is where you start, so you're getting kids introduced to different kinds of foods.
"It is also very good at introducing different kind of cultures and different beliefs that ultimately helps bring people together.
"Food is that only thing that can bring the world together."
The celebrity chef delivered a talk to the children where he taught them the best way to make lentil soup and macaroons before conducting a workshop class for the pupils to get involved.
The room was transformed from a carpeted classroom with a blackboard into the multi-function room where it can be used to teach children a host of different subjects after a year of consolation with both pupils and pupil council.
Funding from the room was made possible by the Pupil Equity Funding from the Scottish Government and has enabled the room to include some items such as a smartboard, microwaves, additional sinks and kitchen utensils.
Staff at the primary school are also undergoing professional development and training courses to ensure that they can enhance teaching for the pupils.
Patricia McNulty, head teacher, and Jennifer Anderson, deputy head at the school helped kickstart the idea where they are now excited to see what can be achieved by their pupils.
Patricia McNulty said: "I am excited to open this STEM room for the pupils after what has been a lot of work put into it
"We value so highly in St Mungo's literacy, numeracy, health and wellbeing and religious education but equally we want to open the horizons for our learners and prepare them with skills and knowledge for the 21st century
"We were honoured to welcome First National Chef of Scotland, Gary Mclean, to officially open our STEM room.
"The future looks very bright for STEM at St Mungo's, and with it, our learners' futures too".
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