On Tuesday, Roosevelt Pratt Jr., the band director for E.E. Smith High School's "Magnificent Marching Machine," walked the halls one last time before he retired.
An E.E. Smith alumnus himself, Pratt became band director in 1996, taking over for his former band director and mentor, Paul A. Russell.
Pratt said that though he was ready for his next chapter, the day was bittersweet.
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He spoke with ABC11 to reflect on his career and the students he influenced - and those who made an impression on him.
"I didn't do all of this by myself. I did this with the support of them," Pratt said. "We did it together in the room to build what we have built in this room. I was just the leader with a whole lot of strong student leaders within it, and it was not me that worked on the field to get any of these trophies.
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"So, I just wanted them to know. I'm not saying that Smith was a great, is a great program because of me, I'm saying it's a great program because all the students that had a part of it," he added.
In keeping with tradition, Pratt's successor is one of his former students, Adam Sobers, who will take over leading the Magnificent Marching Machine this fall.
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