KATY, TX (Covering Katy News) – Eight Katy Independent School District students have recently earned their Class A Commercial Driver’s License, also known as a CDL, through an innovative program launched for the 2023-2024 school year at Martha Raines Academy.
The curriculum encompasses hands-on training in operating an 18-wheeler, including essential skills like straight backing, offset and parallel parking, and computer-based learning modules. Katy ISD partnered with RGV CDL Services to provide the program to its students.
With a CDL, students will be allowed to drive commercial trucks in the state of Texas until they turn 21. Following their twenty-first birthday, they can operate across state lines.
Two female students are among the first eight students to earn their CDL. Both of them have deep-rooted family ties to the trucking industry.
“I chose this career path to follow in my father’s footsteps,” said Melanie Martinez. “He owns his own trucking company and really enjoys what he does. Pursuing this career allows me to work for him one day.”
Guadalupe Rosales’s father is also a commercial truck driver.
“My father was a big influence on me,” Rosales said. I observed how much he likes working in this industry and wanted to follow his lead.”
Eduardo Canales is the first Katy ISD to earn a CDL through the Katy ISD program.
“I’ve been interested in this field since childhood. This course not only prepared me for a career but also enhanced my overall enjoyment of school,” Canales said.
Fellow student Adrian Lopez is also following the path of his parents.
“Both of my parents have operated 18-wheelers for many years, Lopez said. “I saw this as a new opportunity for me to develop skills that could be valuable later in my life.”
Felipe Rodriguez, who also recently earned his CDL, has family ties to the industry, too.
“Both my parents drive, and I have admired their dedication to this profession and want to have the same career as they do,” he said. “Now that I have earned my CDL, I am ready to start driving a truck once I complete high school.”
The students said the course has rigorous expectations.
“This course takes up a lot of your time. You must dedicate yourself to the lessons,” Josh Sowunmi said. “It is not just driving the 18-wheeler; there are so many scenarios you must navigate through with the computer-based problems and exams.”
All the students say the work was worth the reward, a Texas Commercial Driver’s License.
“I have always loved driving, and maneuvering these 18-wheelers was always appealing to me,” student Joel Guerrero said. “This course is a challenge, but if you love something like this, it makes you work much harder.”
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