Paying Tribute to a Lassiter Legend

Alfred Watkins has been synonymous with more than just the award-winning band programs he has guided at Lassiter High School for more than three decades.

He's become synonymous with so much of the school's history.

Watkins, who has been with Lassiter since 1982, announced in March he would be retiring at the end of the school year.

Today's Lassiter graduation ceremonies at the KSU Convocation Center marks a symbolic, if not completely official, end to Watkins' tenure.

The legacy he leaves behind is immense.

Lassiter's marching band has been invited to the Tournament of Roses Parade four times, including in January. Lassiter also has won the Bands of America Grand National Championships twice, nine Bands of America regional titles and countless other awards and titles.

As the attached tribute video attests, his most important legacy has been instilled the thousands of lives he touched every day beyond band performance and practice and into the classroom.

At recent Cobb Board of Education meetings, school board member Kathleen Angelucci has remarked about the impact Watkins made on her son, a Lassiter graduate and member of the band program.

Here's more from 11 Alive on Watkins, who last year was named America's Most Admired Band Director.