![Wayland Historical Society Executive Director Scarlett Hoey explains the history of the Cochituate Gatehouse.
"The exterior is still a nice monument to remember buildings [involved in] water history," Hoey said. "We all drink lots of water, and it's such an important resource that we kind of take for granted nowadays."](https://waylandstudentpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IMG_2024-1200x800.jpg)
On Monday, Jan. 5, some students weren’t able to return to school due to canceled flights, which are a result of the temporary closure of Caribbean airspace. This closure is due to the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
“My family and I are in Aruba for vacation,” junior Audrey Raftery said. “We planned to leave Saturday, but when we woke up, all of our flights were cancelled [because the] Caribbean airspace was closed. We went to book flights, and there [were] limited options and [flights] were selling out very quickly.”
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced on Saturday that flights were banned from entering the Eastern Caribbean airspace due to safety risks with the ongoing military activity. On Sunday, flights resumed under the announcement of the FAA. However, some American tourists still remain stranded due to complications with rebooking and airlines struggling to accommodate additional flights.
Senior Erin Lavelle was traveling to Puerto Rico after going on holiday vacation, only to have all her flights cancelled on Sunday. She was able to get a hotel and an eventual flight back home on Wednesday morning, delaying her return back to school.
“I was kinda scared at first, but once we had everything figured out, I was a lot more comfortable because I know I’ll be home soon,” Lavelle said. “I’m definitely a little scared to have to catch up on three days worth of work.”
Relations between Venezuela and the U.S. have historically been strained due to disagreements including foreign policies, oil and human rights. In March 2020, tensions between Maduro and Trump continued to grow as the U.S. warranted an arrest for Maduro under suspicion of cocaine trafficking.
On Jan. 3, the U.S. military succeeded in capturing both Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, during a military strike.
Sophomore Kaitlyn DiJulia was stuck in Aruba after her flights were cancelled, leaving her to face problems with finding new hotels after the unexpected delay.
“When you’re with your family for this amount of time in such a small place, you start to get frustrated with each other,” DiJulia said.
Although flights technically resumed, on Sunday, the increase in tourists needing flights to return home led to more chaos. For Raftery, who was on vacation in Aruba, the unexpected delay led to a scramble to rebook flights and make hotel reservations.
“I was stressed when I found out because I do not like missing school,” Raftery said. “It was very uncertain of how we [were] getting home and where we were staying until then.”
For some students, such as Raftery and Lavelle, there was concern over the schoolwork they would miss. For senior Marie Geronimo, who ended up stuck in Saint Martin, she faced multiple flight cancellations, even after the airspace was reopened and was unsure when she would be able to make it back to Wayland.
“It was super stressful knowing that I have to miss so much school and trying to get as much done as I can when all of my school stuff for my classes was at home,” Geronimo said.
