ELIZABETHTOWN — Monday night the Bladen County Board of Education gave a warm welcome to new face in their December meeting.

Corey Singletary, a lifetime Bladen County resident, was sworn in, filling Tim Benton’s seat.

“He is very familiar with Bladen County schools,” Superintendent Dr. Robert Taylor said. “He has worked here as an SRO. He’s also worked in our maintence department and he is a lifelong resident of Bladen County and as superintendent I look forward to his insight on how he wants to serve as a board member. I think he is going to do a great job.”

Singletary is married and has three children, and that was part of his drive to get involved, he said, in an interview before the swearing in. SRO is a common acronym for school resource officer.

“I’ve been in Bladen County for 35 years, all my life,” he said. “I started at Bladenboro Primary and then went to Spaulding Monroe in Bladenboro. From there I went to West Bladen. It’s the school I graduated from but never attended.”

Singletary explained that he ended up in the transition of the consolidation of Tar Heel and Bladenboro during his senior year and at the time the West Bladen school was not finished.

“We did everything together,” he said. “I finished high school and graduated from Fayetteville State University with a bachelor’s in criminal justice.”

He worked for a couple of years and then went through Basic Law Enforcement Training, and became certified as a law enforcement officer, working for the Sheriff’s Office for six or seven years. He left there and went to the school maintenance department.

“During my time at the maintenance department I went back to school, for school counseling, to get my master’s,” he said. “I’m still currently in school and I am also a school counselor at South View High School in Cumberland County.”

Singletary is pursuing his master’s at UNC Pembroke. He said that the reason he went back to school, ran for office and worked as an school resource officer was to help kids.

“The kids need our help,” he said. “A lot of times kids come from lower incomes and some don’t come from lower incomes, but they still need our help, regardless.”

Passionate about kids, Singletary said that they were his singular focus, no matter their ethnicity or background.

“That’s my whole objective,” he said. “It’s the kids. Not these grown adults. Anything I can do, which I have done, for these kids, I’m going to do. Just like my own kids. These thousands of kids, are my kids as well.”

Emily M. Williams | Bladen Journal
Corey Singletary was sworn in as the newest member of the Bladen County Board of Education during Monday night’s meeting. His wife, Eugenia, and his oldest son, were there to support him, as were his two other children.
https://www.bladenjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_Singletary.jpgEmily M. Williams | Bladen Journal
Corey Singletary was sworn in as the newest member of the Bladen County Board of Education during Monday night’s meeting. His wife, Eugenia, and his oldest son, were there to support him, as were his two other children.

Emily M. Williams

Bladen Journal

Emily M. Williams can be reached at 910-644-0447 or ewilliams@bladenjournal.com.