Welcome to Wonder and Wander 

Niko is a waterman, builder, and photographer who knows the Vineyard from the working side of its shoreline. He holds a degree in photography from Tufts University and loves capturing the beauty of the island and its waters through his lens. A certified scuba diver with a 100-ton captain's license, he brings the kind of hands-on competence children absorb best by standing beside it. He is also an accomplished guitarist and plays in the Dock Dance Band. Niko is co-owner of his family business, Aquamarine Dock Builders, where he, his father, and their crew build and maintain docks and piers across Martha's Vineyard and tend the moorings in Edgartown Harbor. He spends his free time cruising the Vineyard and beyond with his wife and three children, and sees Wonder and Wander as a place where they — and many others — can flourish while learning to sail.

Ky's story begins on the water. She learned to sail as a child alongside her father, who restored a Pearson Rhodes 41, and grew up exploring the islands of New England before racing aboard Artemis out of Barrington, Rhode Island, on an all-women crew. As Treasurer, she keeps the organization financially sound and transparent, so that Life Goes On can carry young people at an affordable cost. A serial entrepreneur with deep roots on Martha's Vineyard, Ky is the former owner of Not Your Sugar Mamas and Frankie's Flatbreads, co-founder of Lore Mighty Chocolates, and CFO of Amora Regenerative Community Development in Costa Rica. Her guiding belief — that our economic systems must come into alignment with the natural world — shapes her work here: she sees the shift toward shared assets and resources as a shift toward a more regenerative way of being in community. She holds a B.S. in Finance from Bentley University.

For over 15 years, Rachael's foundation was built in the Steiner tradition, teaching in Waldorf classrooms and homeschool cooperatives — an experience that honed her ability to hold space for children's developmental journeys. A mother of three, she is co-founder of the Woods School, a homeschool cooperative guiding children through their journey of learning and life. A fair-weather sailor, she loves cruising the Vineyard Sound and exploring the Elizabeth Islands aboard the family's Herreshoff 28 with her children and her husband, Niko. She is passionate about children learning on the water, and believes Wonder and Wander offers nourishing, expansive opportunities for her own children and others to build lifelong boat and survival skills.

Ariana shapes what happens once the children arrive. With over 20 years of teaching experience, she is the co-founder of The Woods School on Martha's Vineyard, now two campuses serving more than 100 families. Building on that success, she launched Woods of the World, a nature-based, child-led, Waldorf-inspired program reaching communities in Costa Rica, Portugal, and Uruguay. An educational consultant who partners with families worldwide, she designs schools rooted in place-based, experiential learning. Her goal for Wonder and Wander is to hold the through-line between a morning in the woods and a day on the water — designing programming that asks something real of each child and honors their curiosity, creativity, and connection to the natural world.