Meet The Faculty

Joel Singleton has served on the faculty of the Cumberland Valley School of Gospel Music since 2002, of which he was named director in 2014. Mr. Singleton also serves as the President of the Board of Directors for CVSGM. He grew up a student of the North Georgia School of Gospel Music from 1987 until 1996. He also attended the Alabama School of Gospel Music as well as the Ben Speer/Stamps Baxter School of Music. Mr. Singleton is a Past President of the Georgia State Youth Gospel Singing Convention and the Georgia State Singing Convention. He serves at the Choral Director at Eastside High School in Covington, Ga. Prior to his time at Eastside, Mr. Singleton taught in both Spalding and Rockdale Counties. Mr. Singleton is active as an adjudicator of choral festivals and competitions in Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. He was chosen as the 2017-2018 Eastside High School Teacher of the Year and on October 5th, 2017, was named the Newton County School System’s Teacher of the year. He has directed church choirs for several years and is currently serving as Associate Pastor and Minister of Music at Rutledge Baptist Church in Rutledge, Ga. Mr. Singleton holds a BME degree in Choral Music from Georgia College and State University, a MM degree in Music Education and Choral Conducting from Columbus State University, and an Educational Specialist degree in Music Education from Auburn University. He resides in Social Circle, Georgia with his wife Lewissa, daughter Sutton, and son Lawson.

​Mrs. Baker serves CVSGM as a classroom teacher, voice teacher, accompanist and leads group singing.  Mrs. Baker just finished her eighteenth year of teaching. For the past four years, she has been the choir director and general music teacher at T. W. Hunter Middle School in Hendersonville, TN. She has taught music in grades K-12. Mrs. Baker received her Bachelor of Music Education, and her Masters of Curriculum and Instruction from UT Knoxville. Mrs. Baker attended CVSGM as a student from the schools first year, until she became a teacher at the school. Mrs. Baker is a former CVSGM Student of the Year. Mrs. Baker is married and has two children: Andrew and Macey.

Mr. Broadnax serves as a classroom teacher and accompanist with our school.  Mr. Broadnax attended the North Georgia School of Gospel Music from 1988 until 1992 and has written many songs over the years that were published in several different convention books. Mr. Broadnax is a MIS Director for the Georgia Department of Public Health - District 10. He serves as choir director and as a musician for Pleasant Hill Baptist Church. Tom has served as director for several local singing schools, as is the Past President of the Georgia State Youth Gospel Singing Convention, DeKalb County Singing Class, and the Rockdale County Singing Convention. He is a member of The Athens Voices of Truth and the Athens Master Chorale. Mr. Broadnax lives in Watkinsville, Georgia with his wife Noelle, and his children, Cara, Peyton, Lauren, and Asher

Mrs. Peters has taught private piano lessons and church singing schools for a number of years.  She shares, “I am so thankful that at an early age I had the opportunity to attend singing schools every summer just like CVSGM! Each school had amazing and talented teachers who were able to share their musical knowledge in such a way that I knew that I wanted to teach also! God has richly blessed our family and I pray that I can always be a willing vessel to help others play piano and sing praises to our wonderful Lord and Savior!” She teaches our adult class as well as accompanies group singing and our Cumberland Kids choir.

Mrs. Thompson teaches our new "Early Learners" class at Cumberland Valley.  Mrs. Thompson has taught private piano lessons for the last six years. She has a B.S. in Music Education from Cumberland University. She was a student at CVSGM from 1997 until 2003, and became the Student of the Year during that time. Mrs. Thompson has served for several years on the Cumberland Valley Board of Directors. She is a homeschooling mom of a rising 2nd grader. Mrs. Thompson lives in Westmoreland, TN with her husband, Joseph, and two children: Abigail and James Westley.

Mr. Tippens joined our faculty in 2019 serving as a classroom teacher, private piano instructor and accompanist. Mr. Tippens attended both NGSGM and Stamps/Ben Speer School as a teen. He went on to study and obtain a Master of Church Music degree (Choral Conducting Emphasis) from LEE University in 2004. Eric is currently serving on the ministry staff as Worship Leader at Concord Baptist Church in Cumming, GA. He also maintains a weekly private piano studio, member of the ASGM Faculty, and has served in a few local north Georgia area churches over the past 25 years. His heart is to see students of all ages discover, develop, and dedicate their musical talents and gifts as an offering to the Lord regularly in the local church. Mr. Tippens currently resides in Ball Ground, GA.

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