Skyline High School alumni held a tribute for the late coach John Beam Saturday afternoon at The New Parkway Theater. 

Many of them knew Beam, who was a football coach and gym teacher at the high school from the 1980s until 2003. He then took a coaching job at Laney College, where he was working when he was shot and killed last month.

Christina Macalino is determined to make sure his memory lives on for generations to come. 

"He is our Skyline legend," said Macalino. "Period."

Beam gained nationwide notoriety after Laney College's football team was featured in "Last Chance U." He was the head coach at the time. 

But before taking the job at Laney, he coached and taught at Skyline High School from the mid-80s until 2003.

"He provided love, support, opportunity, and inspiration, and that's just the epitome of being an educator," Macalino explained. "That's what we all strive to be as educators."

Macalino is an educator herself; she worked at Skyline High School as a teacher and assistant principal.

But before that, she was a student at the school, and Beam was her gym teacher.

"He always had that beard even when I was at Skyline from '97-2000," said Macalino.

On Saturday night, her high school class held a 25th reunion with a tribute to Beam. They had a screening of the Netflix series, "Last Chance U." Proceeds went to a teacher appreciation grant called "Once a titan, always a titan."

Watching Beam on the big screen brought back memories for Macalino.

"It was a class full of freshmen and sophomores and there was like maybe five of us seniors there and he would totally call us out when we weren't doing what we were supposed to be doing," said Macalino, remembering her experience 25 years ago. 

Charles Lassey was also in one of Beam's classes at Skyline.

He says watching the documentary in the community made the void feel a little bigger

"It makes us that much more emotional for all of us to see that we really lost a gem," said Lassey. "And a gem not just for skyline, but for Oakland, for Alameda County, for California."

Lassey was part of the Class of 2000 reunion organizing committee, he says, without Beam's passing, they wouldn't have had a reunion.

"We planned this for maybe four weeks, and it gave us a reason to come together every week or so," said Lassey. "I told them if Coach Beam wasn't taken away from us, we wouldn't be hanging out and planning this event. "

Beam died from a gunshot wound after he was shot on the Laney College campus on Nov. 13.

Macalino says while she's devastated by his passing, everyone needs to learn from the life he lived.

"We do need to step up as a community," Macalino stated. "I mean, yes, he was one person, but yet he was doing the work of 50 plus and so I think it's a calling to Oakland that we need to come together and we got to pitch in for our town."