Meet the Board
Brian Poppen, President
Brian brings extensive business, financial, and sales experience to the school. He has been in middle and upper management for the majority of his professional career, is a Firefighter, and has served as Treasurer for a 501c3, non profit fire department. Brian’s father was an Ordained Minister in the Reformed Church of America and a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary. Brian’s father provided him with a deep theological foundation and understanding of the world, which helped to highlight the need for a better education of future generations. Brian believes in taking on the heaviest burden he can, in order to benefit the greatest number of people possible. He and his wife, Anne believe that establishing this school is the best way to accomplish that goal.
Albert Paulsson,
Vice President
Albert has been a Social Studies teacher for 25 years at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North in New Jersey where he most recently taught Advanced Placement American Government, Economics and a course entitled Introduction to Political and Legal Experiences. He also coordinated the district’s We the People program where his students qualified multiple times for the national competition and organized an annual 5-day trip to Washington D.C. for 11th grade students. This upcoming school year, he is beginning a new teaching career as a History Teacher at Vertex Academy in New York City. Albert was recently recognized with a national award from the American Lawyers Alliance for his work in Civic and Legal education. In addition, he has developed a curriculum for FIRE (The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) to help promote a deeper understanding of the First Amendment, FAIR (Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism) to help promote learning that respects human rights and the dignity of the individual, The Woodson Center to help create resources for teachers on Empowering Black History, and The Mill Center to help expand materials and teaching strategies on Viewpoint Diversity. In addition, he is a member of the American Enterprise Institute’s Conservative Education Reform Network. Albert has been married to his wife Melissa for 24 years and they have been blessed to raise 3 children together in New Jersey. He is also active in his Church where he volunteers to be a 7th grade Catechist. Albert received his undergraduate and graduate training from The College of New Jersey.
Melaine Collette, Secretary
Melanie Collette is a business technology expert, entrepreneur, and political commentator with extensive corporate operations and organizational management experience.
Melanie’s business expertise is rivaled only by her commitment to nurturing the next generation of business and financial leaders. For twenty years and counting, she has taught accounting, computer applications, financial literacy, and sports marketing at various public and private academic institutions. Melanie’s business acumen and passion for politics led her to media to share highly coveted opinions on various topics. On her weekly radio show, Money Talk with Melanie, she interviews industry experts and guides listeners through lively and informative discussions on global and domestic affairs, the economy, fiscal policy, and politics. When she’s not tantalizing her radio audience with unique perspectives, Melanie appears weekly on the Newsmax television show ‘American Agenda’ to provide analysis on financial and political topics. Melanie is a passionate conservative and active leader in the New Jersey State Republican Party (NJGOP), recently serving as vice-chair of Cape May County and former vice-chair of the New Jersey Federation of Republican Women. Melanie is an active member of Project 21 at The National Center for Public Policy Research. Melanie holds a masters in public administration from Marist College.
John is a NJ native and has lived at the Jersey Shore since 1969.
After attending St. Joseph H.S. in Toms River and Seton Hall University, John accepted a position on Wall Street. Starting at the bottom as a runner, he learned the ropes and quickly rose to the ranks of Vice-President at Shearson Lehman Brothers at the age of 22. In 1986, when he had absorbed the knowledge he felt necessary, John decided to leave the company and make his way on his own. Buying a seat on the New York Mercantile Exchange, he began a 20 year career in the trading pits of the world’s largest energy futures exchange. He excelled at trading futures of crude oil, heating oil, gasoline and eventually the dynamic new natural gas contract. Those years brought about a priceless hands-on education in risk reward and financial management.
After retiring from the Wall Street arena in 2006 at the age of 42, John turned his attention to his next venture, restaurant ownership. He is now a partner in two bustling Jersey Shore locations where he manages the companies finances and business development. He is also partner and CEO of RC Transfer, the largest independent trucking and freight forwarding company in Richmond, VA.
John and his wife Susan have been married for over 25 years and they have two wonderful daughters. Kerry, a recent graduate of Villanova University’s College of Engineering, works for GlaxoSmithKline. Katie is a rising senior biology major at Boston College.
