{"id":355470,"date":"2026-06-11T00:15:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T00:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/355470\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T00:15:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T00:15:13","slug":"edison-high-names-gyms-after-beloved-coach-and-trustee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/355470\/","title":{"rendered":"Edison High names gyms after beloved coach and trustee"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fresno Unified decided to name the two gyms at Edison High School after a beloved former trustee and a legendary coach.<\/p>\n

Over the last few years, Edison High School has upgraded its original gym and expanded the building for a second gym. Since the second gym opened in 2022, students and community members have been referring to them as East Gym and West Gym. Both facilities feature basketball and volleyball courts, and are equipped with locker rooms, snack bars, and other amenities, with capacities of 2,200 and 2,300 people, respectively, according to the district\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

At last week\u2019s meeting, the school board approved two petitions to name the West gym after Former Trustee Lindsay \u201cCal\u201d Johnson, and to name the East gym in honor of Edison High\u2019s legendary coach, Cecil Smith.<\/p>\n

\"Edison Edison High School’s East gym, left, will be named after legendary coach Cecil Smith and its West gym, right, after former trustee Carl Johnson. Photographed Tuesday, June 9, 2026 in Fresno. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com \"Edison Edison High School’s East and West connected gyms will be dedicated and named after Carl Johnson and Cecil Smith. Photographed Tuesday, June 9, 2026 in Fresno. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n

A graduate of Edison High School, Johnson served on the Fresno Unified school board for 12 years. During his tenure, Johnson oversaw the construction of a middle school, Rutherford B. Gaston Middle School, in the Edison region.<\/p>\n

\u201cNaming the gym in his honor would not only celebrate his decades of service but also stand as a lasting reminder,\u201d the petition wrote.<\/p>\n

Smith taught multiple subjects and coached five sports at Edison High for 34 years before retiring in 1997, according to the district\u2019s document. After retiring, Smith continued to substitute teach classes for many years and attended class reunions at the age of 90. He earned his iconic nickname \u201cThe Chief\u201d from students.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of students, parents, and community members participated in the year-long petition process and signed the letter to call for the district to name the gyms in honor of the two educators. Johnson, along with family members and supporters of the two educators, showed up at the board meeting last week to celebrate the passage of the petitions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did not know as a youth all that he has done, all that he did for the community,\u201d said Brandon Brown, a family member of Johnson, who now owns a company School Yard Rap. \u201cAs I started to explore what my education, or see my career path would be, I wanted to be like him, I wanted to be a man that gives back, that serves, that leaves an impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson brought three of his great-grandchildren to the board meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have any prepared words. I\u2019m just overcome by the support from this Fresno Unified school board,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m a champion for the school district.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith did not attend the meeting as advised by his doctor, but his daughter said that Smith is deeply thankful to the school district, and he will always be a member of the Edison Tigers.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was really touched, because a lot of people do not get the acknowledgement or honor while they\u2019re still here, and my dad\u2019s going to be 91 this year,\u201d Shonda Smith said. \u201cIf I were to ask people to stand up for how many people were taught, or their sisters, brothers, kids taught by my dad, or locked out of his class if they were too late, it would be plenty of people standing up, and he had over 50 years of support and love for Edison High.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Edison Edison High School’s East lgym will be named after legendary coach Cecil Smith. Photographed Tuesday, June 9, 2026 in Fresno. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com \"Edison Edison High School’s East and West gyms will be dedicated and named after Carl Johnson and Cecil Smith. Photographed Tuesday, June 9, 2026 in Fresno. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n

This story was originally published June 10, 2026 at 11:00 AM.<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Leqi Zhong<\/a><\/p>\n

The Fresno Bee<\/p>\n

Leqi Zhong is the Clovis accountability\/enterprise reporter for The Bee. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley with a Master\u2019s degree in journalism. She joined The Bee in 2023 as an education reporter. Leqi grew up in China and is native in Cantonese and Mandarin.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fresno Unified decided to name the two gyms at Edison High School after a beloved former trustee and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":355471,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-355470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=355470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355470\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/355471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=355470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=355470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=355470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}