Utica middle school inspired by former student Will Smith

The day after the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl, Will Smith was walking the halls of John F. Kennedy Middle School.

No, not THAT Will Smith, but William Smith, assistant principal who happens to share the name of one of the school’s most famous former students.

“I’ve been hearing a lot of jokes today,” he said.

The school was abuzz Monday with talk of the other Will Smith, the one who helped his team win the Super Bowl on Sunday, helping with a block during a game-clinching interception return.

Smith’s road to Super Bowl XLIV started as a student at JFK, then known as a junior high school.
Many at the school celebrated the win as if it was their own.

“We won,” Italian language teacher Josephine Tebano shouted at the beginning of each of her classes Monday.

She donned her “Where there’s a Will, there’s a way” t-shirt from the annual sports camp that Smith runs in Utica and New Orleans Mardi Gras beads.

Utica middle school inspired by former student Will Smith