Our Board of Directors is made up of individuals who volunteer their time to help promote home educating and who, with the help of the Home School Legal Defence Association of Canada (HSLDA) protect the freedom to home educate throughout New Brunswick.

Board directors are elected by the HENB members for a term of two years and are able to be re-elected at the end of their current terms for a maximum of 3 consecutive terms.

Since 2001, members of the HENB board of directors have represented home educators in New Brunswick at the Annual National Home School Leadership Conferences which have been sponsored by the Home School Legal Defence Association (HSLDA) and the Canadian Centre for Home Education. At these conferences they have shared ideas and networked with home educator leaders from across Canada and North America.

Vice President – Cory & Emily Vail

Cory is married to Emily and they have five children – Eli, Theo, Amos, Barnabas, and Solomon. Emily is a second generation homeschooler and Cory has been convinced of the benefits of homeschooling for many years. Cory serves as the Pastor of Nerepis Baptist Church and he is the Regional Director for Awana in Atlantic Canada. Awana is a children and youth discipleship ministry that partners with the local Church. There are approximately 40 Churches in Atlantic Canada working with the Awana ministry.  After graduating high school Cory and Emily attended Atlantic Baptist University (Crandall). This is where they met and fell in love. Cory received a Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies, with an emphasis in youth leadership. Prior to working in full-time ministry Cory had several occupations. He was employed at a lumber mill, the painters union, as a lab technician at Strescon, as a carpenter, as a manager of the Pita Pit restaurant, and as a self-employed contractor doing home renovations.  Cory and Emily are strong believers in home education and love the freedom that it provides for children to explore their interests, participate in hands on learning, and the opportunities it provides for everyday moments of relational discipleship through the natural rhythms of life.

Treasurer: Chris & Melanie Eigenheer

Chris was born into a Christian family and lived in Switzerland until he was 17. After immigrating to Canada in 1992 he attended high school to learn English and then went on to the University of Waterloo for Math, Physics and Computer Science. His plan was to become a high school math teacher but God interrupted his studies after two years to move to Saskatoon, SK to attend Bible College. After graduating in 1999 he started working for Correctional Service Canada as a computer programmer and database systems analyst. Chris met Melanie in 2003 and got married only 9 months later. A few years after they got married they moved to NB. In 2007 their first child Nathaniel was born. Their second son Ben’s heartbeat stopped after 20 weeks of pregnancy in 2009. Their daughter Eliana was born in 2012. Their last child, Johana (which they affectionately call their bonus baby) was born in 2014 . Both Chris and Melanie grew up attending public school but were always intrigued by the home schooling world/concept. After Nathaniel was born, Melanie spent time looking into different educational options and after thorough discussions with Chris they felt that home education was the right choice for their family. After attending their first HENB Conference in 2010, they left with a solid conviction that home education would be the only option for their family. Although Melanie does the majority of the work when it comes to the actual teaching, Chris is 100% supportive and very actively connected and involved with their children’s education.

 Secretary: Bristen & Anike Bourque

Bristen was born and raised in Scoudouc, NB. He is the 5th generation of a French Acadian Bourque family to live in this small village. Bristen became a Christian as a teenager at the age of 18 in 1992. He married Anike in 1999 and the couple was blessed with two beautiful children a few years later: a daughter (Naomi) in 2006 and a son (Caleb) in 2007. Anike was raised in a Christian family and became a Christian at the age of 11. Both Bristen and Anike were convinced that homeschooling was the only option for their family long before they had children. Anike started homeschooling the children from the beginning and still does today. Anike is involved in a few homeschooling support groups, including the Moncton Christian Home Educators (MCHE) and also enjoys helping families as they undertake the great adventure of home education. On a professional level, Bristen completed a Bachelor degree in Computer Sciences from the Université de Moncton in 1997 and has been working in the IT industry since. From 1997 to 2009, his career was focused on developing software. Early in his career, he took up leadership roles which eventually led to a position as a Software Development Manager in 2009. Outside of work, Bristen enjoys rocketry, playing music, gardening and nature.

Past President: Rod & Dawn Cumberland

Rod served as the HENB President from 2015 to 2020 and he and his wife Dawn now serve the board as Past President. He currently works as a researcher at the NB Legislature, and runs a small business “East Coast Lumberjack”.  He spent the lion’s share of his career as a college instructor and provincial wildlife biologist. Dawn served as President of the Greater Fredericton Home Educators until 2016 and has home educated all of their 4 children (Benjamin, Nathan, Emily and Kate).   They want to encourage new members that homeschooling your kids is well worth the effort.  In their family, Ben graduated from MCFT with honors and is employed with NBDNR; Nathan graduated top of his class from Engineering at NBCC and currently works for an engineering firm in Fredericton. Emily is employed at Snyder Mountain Ranch and invests in children’s spiritual lives, leaving only Katie under Dawn’s tutelage. The Cumberlands operate a small hobby farm and spend their spare time camping, playing music and are very active at Lumberjack Sports.