High School Faculty

Jennifer Culver is in her twentieth year of teaching with the Cuyahoga Falls City Schools. At the high school, she serves as the Fine Arts Department Chair and conductor of the Fall Concert Band and the Black Concert Band and co-conductor of the Gold Concert Band. She is also responsible for teaching AP Music Theory, The Understanding of Music (college credit plus course through Kent State University), piano keyboarding, and adaptive music appreciation. Prior to her appointment to the high school, Mrs. Culver taught at Sill Middle School for six years where she was responsible for sixth, seventh and eighth grade concert bands and the jazz ensemble. 

Along with her classroom teaching load, Mrs. Culver is actively involved in the teaching profession. Currently, she serves on several building and district leadership committees. She has acted as mentor and cooperating teacher to numerous young professionals entering the field of education. She has earned her Teacher Leadership Endorsement at Kent State University and Master Teacher designation in the state of Ohio. Most recently, Mrs. Culver was named the 2017 Teacher of the Year for Ohio State Board of Education District 7.

An active performer and musician, Mrs. Culver has performed in the pit orchestra for Porthouse Theater and served as the Children’s Chorus Director for productions with Nightingale Opera Theater. She has a great passion for the theater and serves as the producer for the annual musical production at Cuyahoga Falls High School. 

An Ohio native, Mrs. Culver completed both her undergraduate degree in music education and graduate degree in conducting at the Hugh A. Glauser School of Music at Kent State. There, she studied flute with Professor Diane McCloskey and conducting with Dr. Wayne Gorder. She is an active member of the music education profession, holding memberships in the National Association for Music Education, Ohio Music Education Association and the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles. She serves as an adjudicator for the Ohio Music Education Association and has 
presented a professional development session for the state conference. 
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Mrs. Culver enjoys classical music, musical theater, opera, reading, history and learning new things. Most of all, loves to spend time with her family. She resides in Stow with her husband Tim (assistant professor of voice at Kent State University), their three children, Sam, Tom and Ellie, and their dog, Patches.

Dustin Harris is currently in his eighteenth year of teaching for Cuyahoga Falls City Schools. His primary duties include directing the Symphonic Band, Tiger Marching Band, Pit Orchestra, Pep Band, and co-directing the Gold Concert Band. Mr. Harris also assists with the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade bands at both Bolich and Roberts Middle Schools and serves as the district’s primary brass instructor.

While under his leadership the Tiger Marching Band has performed extensively in Northeast Ohio and beyond. The band regularly appears at the Kent Roosevelt, Massillon, Lake, and Jackson Band Shows, Cedar Point and Lake Erie Monsters games, and has also stepped into the OMEA arena at venues such as the Buckeye Invitational, Copley Invitational, and the Brunswick Sound Spectacular. In November 2016 the Tiger Band traveled to Chicago to march in the McDonald’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and in the spring of 2019 the band will travel to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. The band has also received numerous accolades in the recent past, including being voted NEOhio’s #1 Marching Band by Cleveland.com in 2016. In the fall of 2017 the band was also honored by Don Walters, Mayor of Cuyahoga Falls, when Broad Boulevard was temporarily named “Tiger Band Boulevard”.

During Mr. Harris’ tenure with the Cuyahoga Falls High School Symphonic Band, the group has developed as one of Northeast Ohio’s premiere AA High School Concert Bands. This group participates annually in OMEA events and has made appearances at the state level for the past decade. The group has consistently earned a Superior Rating at this level over the last three years. Under Mr. Harris’ directorship the CFHS Symphonic Band has also performed in Severance Hall and been invited to perform at various events and venues in NE Ohio.

Prior to his work at Cuyahoga Falls, Mr. Harris was Director of Bands at North Middle School in Grants Pass, Oregon for three years. He holds a Master of Music in Tuba Performance from Michigan State University, a Bachelor of Music in Tuba Performance from the University of Akron, and a Bachelor of Science in Education from Montana State University. Mr. Harris is a graduate of the Army Element School of Music in Norfolk, Virginia and served in the 5th Army Band in San Antonio, Texas.
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In 2018 Mr. Harris’ was honored to be named the Akron Symphony Orchestra’s Music Educator of the Year. His professional memberships include the Ohio Music Education Association and the American School Band Directors Association.   

Courtney Lambert has worked as a percussion educator and professional musician in Northeast Ohio since the fall of 2007.   She is currently in her fourth year as a full time band director and percussion specialist for Cuyahoga Falls City Schools.  At the high school Ms. Lambert serves as the Director of the Freshman Band, Percussion Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble as well as Assistant Director of the Tiger Marching Band.  She also assists with beginning band and sectional work at both Bolich and Roberts Middle Schools.   Prior to her full time appointment at Cuyahoga Falls, Ms. Lambert was the percussion specialist for several school districts including Cuyahoga Falls City Schools, Revere Local Schools, and Crestwood Middle and Intermediate Schools.  Ms. Lambert was an adjunct faculty member at Kent State University, serving as the Marching Percussion Instructor and Arranger for the Marching Golden Flashes from 2011 - 2015.  She continues to maintain an active private studio where many students have had great success in school music programs, universities, and beyond. 

Also a working performer, Ms. Lambert plays authentic Chinese percussion instruments with the Cleveland Chinese Music Ensemble, a group focused on the performance of traditional folk music.  The ensemble works to present educational and entertainment based programming which integrates different art forms and cultural elements central to Chinese heritage.   In the summer of 2015 Ms. Lambert was selected to attend the first annual Global Musicians Workshop hosted by members of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project.  Ms. Lambert can also be seen performing as a classical percussionist, marimba soloist and jazz vocalist in Northeast Ohio.

Ms. Lambert completed her M.M. in Percussion Performance from Kent State University in 2009.  She holds a B.S. in Music Education with a minor in vocal performance from Ball State University.  In addition to her percussion studies with Michael Scheiber, Dr. Erwin Mueller, and Ted Rounds, she has studied jazz voice extensively with Helen Welch.   Ms. Lambert and her husband Rob Hassing are co-owners of C & R Percussive Endeavors, LLC, dedicated to furthering the percussive art form through quality percussion education for young musicians, inspired performances encompassing multiple musical genres and innovative composition and arranging for the percussion idiom. Her professional affiliations include the Percussive Arts Society and the National Association for Music Education.