Students get head start with dual credit CDL course
•May 20, 2026•
Neoga senior Ayden White has yet to earn his high school diploma, but he’s already built the foundation of a high-demand career. Thanks to a unique partnership with Lake Land College, Ayden is turning his last semester of high school into a pathway toward earning a Class A commercial driver’s license (CDL).
Ayden is one of several local students enrolled this semester in Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) Theory, a dual credit course designed to equip high schoolers with the career-ready skills to operate tractor-trailers, flatbeds, livestock carriers, and other heavy-duty vehicles. Held in the Lake Land College Effingham Technology Center, the course is available to high schoolers through a partnership with Creating Opportunities for Regional Employment (CORE), which provides free career exploration classes for students across 16 local high schools. “My grandpa owns a trucking business in Decatur, and I want to work for him when I graduate, so I was pretty excited to learn about this class,” Ayden explained. “You learn a lot about the road rules, and you realize just how much different it all is from driving a car.”