How We Choose Our
Hall of Famers?
The HOF is based on merit and what a person did in his or her life or career.
CRITERIA FOR SELECTION
The Nominee must have exemplified, during and following his/her high school career and/or partnership, the pride, high character, and spirit that was, Wills High School. Achievements may have been accomplished during and/after high school.
NOMINATION PROCESS
As an alumnus, community member or interested individual, you are invited to nominate past Wills High School graduates, athletes (teams), teachers, staff members, coaches, and/or community members that you believe have made significant contributions to F.T. Wills High School.
MISSION
The F.T. Wills High School Hall of Fame was created as a means of recognizing, preserving and promoting the heritage of F.T. Wills High School. Many of our graduates and staff have made extraordinary contributions and achieved superb accomplishments in the fields of athletics, academics/education, service, arts and entertainment and business. The F.T. Wills High School Hall of Fame honors the contributions and accomplishments of these individuals.
ATHLETE: If an athlete, the candidate must be a Wills High School athlete. Recognition at the state, county and region levels will be considered in addition to any post high school accomplishments. Teams will be considered.
EDUCATION, ACADEMICS, FACULTY: The candidate must have exemplified a contribution towards education, administration, academics, extracurriculars, etc.
ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT: The candidate must have excelled and/or contributed to the fine arts. (Theatre, music, band, visual arts, etc.)
BUSINESS: The candidate must have made significant contributions in the business world. (Leadership positions, innovation, honors and or recognition.
COUNTRY AND COMMUNITY: The candidate must have contributed to the United States of America or their community in a significant and meaningful way.
SCHOOL SUPPORTER: The candidate may or may not be graduate or have been an employee of Wills High School but has made significant contributions (not necessarily financial) to the Wills High School community.
As an alumnus or alumna, community member or interested individual, you are invited to nominate past Wills High School graduates, athletes (teams), teachers, staff members, coaches, and/or community members that you believe have made significant contributions to F.T. Wills High School.
Our School History
F.T. Wills High School was first opened in 1965 at the newly constructed school campus on Powder Springs St. in Smyrna. It was right next door to Nash Junior High School on Ward St. which had opened in time for the 1963-1964 school year. Wills High School was named after Francis Theodore Wills, who was a longtime superintendent of the Cobb County school system and a Smyrna City Councilman in the 1920’s.
The school mascot was the mighty Tigers, and the school colors were Red and Black. The first graduating class was 1967. During the school’s 22-year class history, there were many honors and successes in academics, arts and athletics. Wills was known as a basketball school for its consistent successes on the hardwood floor. Other sports teams, individual athletes and students earned high and numerous accolades in all aspects of high school, but at Wills basketball was king. No matter the sport, the red, and black Wills Tigers enjoyed a fierce rivalry with the Green and White Campbell Panthers from Atlanta Rd in Smyrna, who were the only other high school in the Smyrna city limits. Most of the students had grown up in Smyrna together, played recreational ball together, and went to Nash Junior High School together.
No matter the team record, when Wills Tigers played the Campbell Panthers, the gym or stadium was packed. Pranks and shenanigans between the schools are legendary. As fate would have it, the Cobb County Board of Education in 1989 decided to combine Wills and Campbell and call it the Smyrna High School, with the school mascot Spartans and the school colors blue and white. So F.T. Wills High School’s last graduating class was in 1989.
In 1991 after a lawsuit the Campbell name was reassigned to the high school, but the Spartan mascot and Blue and White colors remained. The old Wills building has been combined with the Nash building, as well as additional buildings added to make the new Campbell High School campus.
In 2022 Wills alumnus Jack Shields, class of 1976 founded the F.T. Wills High School Hall of Fame. Since Wills no longer existed, the Hall of Fame is displayed virtually at FTWillsHOF.com. LONG LIVE THE WILLS TIGERS!