First Posted: 2/24/2010

LUMBERTON Dwayne Smith, a lifelong Lumberton resident, filed Tuesday as a candidate for the county Board of Education. Smith will challenge incumbent Tony Jenkins for the boards District 8 seat in the May 4 primary.
With filing ending on Friday at noon, District 8 is the only contested race for the school board.
Smith, 42, is running for his first public office. He manages Smiths Body Shop, a family business operating in Lumberton since 1972.
I want to serve on the board so I can help get parents more involved working with the teachers and kids, Smith said. With parents and teachers working together, we can help children successfully achieve academically from one level to the next.
Smith graduated from Lumberton High School in 1986, and received a degree in Health Education in 1991 from Pembroke State College, now The University of North Carolina at Pembroke. He is a member of Saddletree Church of God, where he sings in the choir, a member of the Lumberton Area Chamber of Commerce, and a former member of the Kiwanis Club.
Smith has been married for 17 years to Kimberly Bennett Smith. The couple have a son, 5-year-old Bennett Bryson Smith, a student at Tanglewood Elementary School.
The other three incumbents on the school board, Severeo Kerns, Mike Smith and Brenda Fairley-Ferebee, have filed for re-election but remain unopposed. The school board election is non-partisan, meaning the primary serves as the general election.