A rhythmic chant from tiny voices echoed through the cafeteria and gym at Lothian Elementary School on Friday morning: “Mis-ter Wat-kins, Mis-ter Wat-kins, Mis-ter Wat-kins.”

The students cheered, clacked hand clappers and waved handmade posters as longtime custodian Louis Watkins — or Mr. Watkins as he’s known at the Anne Arundel County school — walked into the newly named Watkins Cafe and Watkins Court.

He’s not one for the spotlight, according to school staff and family, but as he walked across the front of the cafeteria and joined about a dozen family members, a soft smile grew across his face.

Principal Denise Faidley surprised — well, sort of — Watkins, the chief custodian, with news that school leaders had voted unanimously to rename the gym and the cafeteria after him. The secret might have slipped out, but his family kept denying that anything was happening, his son, Louis Watkins Jr., said.

Dozens of current and former colleagues, friends and family, as well as the students at the school, joined the celebration to honor Watkins for his 51 years of service.

“I never thought it was going to happen, but I’m proud of it,” Watkins said.

When announcing the new names, Faidley shared snippets of memories about Watkins’ many years at the school.

In the cafeteria, he’s helped countless students open pudding cups during lunch, and even helped a student’s father successfully dig through the trash to retrieve a child’s lost — and newly stinky — glasses. In the gym, former and current students remember shooting hoops with the “gentle giant,” as Faidley and others call him.

“He is a legend,” Faidley said.

The cafeteria erupted again: “Mis-ter Wat-kins, Mis-ter Wat-kins, Mis-ter Wat-kins!”

There were few dry eyes in the room as people spoke about the impact he has had on them and the school. Watkins dabbed a tissue under his eyes.

Mary Ellen McGrath, a kindergarten teacher at Lothian who retired in 2000, said she worked alongside Watkins for 24 years. One standout memory, she said, was the time her classroom somehow housed praying mantis eggs. He gently removed them and put them outside, saving every little creature’s life, she said.

“Don’t do that again, Mrs. McGrath,” she recalled Watkins saying in his deep and calm voice. She said nothing ever caused him to lose his temper.

Watkins’ dedication and leadership at the school will be memorialized with two clear plaques that have the new names of the spaces and a championship-style banner that displays his name, the school mascot, the year he started, 1973, and the current year.

“It means the world that this can happen in his lifetime,” Watkins Jr. said. “Dad’s a very special person.”

He joked and said sorry to all the other custodians his father has worked with, because he knows things have to be done the right way with him.

Luckily, Watkins will be putting up his own plaques, so they will be perfectly placed, his son said.