Next Gen Trucking is excited to announce our February 2025 Student of the Month, Noah Lucas.
FastForward funding and Laurel Ridge Community College’s unique Freshman Focus program have put a recent high school graduate on the road to success.
2024 Page County High School graduate Noah Lucas learned about the 160-hour truck-driving school offered through Ancora Training at Laurel Ridge Workforce Solutions from his high school career coach.
“She told me it was definitely something I could do and thought it would be a great idea for the family business,” said Lucas, whose family owns a company that provides contracting, landscaping, poultry litter service and more.
Learning New Skills & Gaining Confidence
The young man had already been driving trucks around the family farm, but with his CDL he can now drive out on the roads.
“I always, always struggled with backing up,” Noah said. “I would say the backing-up portion of the class made a bigger difference than anything. I really had fun. It didn’t even feel like I was in a class.
“I was really nervous when I went on the first day, and I thought it would be awkward sitting there driving, but it was a lot of fun and I enjoyed myself. There was no reason to be embarrassed or nervous like I thought I was going to be. They taught me well, and the test was a breeze.”
Support from Career Coaches
During a Freshman Focus event at Page County High in spring 2024, Noah met FastForward career coach Lisa Heiser. Last spring was the first time Workforce Solutions participated in Freshman Focus events, an initiative providing orientation, registration, advising and workforce coaching to students while they’re still in high school.
“I asked Mrs. Heiser my questions, and that’s when the whole process got started,” he said. “She made it very easy to understand.”
Because he qualified for FastForward funding, two-thirds of the $6,000 CDL tuition were covered through grant moneys.
Mrs. Heiser said not only was Lucas able to save a lot of money, he was ready to start his new career after just four weeks. Mrs. Heiser said CDL drivers can make $46,000 on average after just four weeks of training.
Read more of Noah’s story at the link below. Learn more about Laurel Ridge’s CDL program at laurelridgeworkforce.com/cdl.