Fourteen area high school graduates have been named to receive college scholarships through the Frank James-SkyLine Scholarship Program. These scholarships honor the memory of longtime director and former SkyLine President Frank James and are awarded to children of SkyLine members who reside in the cooperative 's five-county service area. The awards will be officially presented to the students at SkyLine 's Annual Meeting in early October.

Annually, SkyLine awards $1,000 scholarships, renewable for up to four years, to students pursuing a four-year college degree and $500 scholarships, renewable for up to two years, to students pursuing a community/technical college degree or vocational program.

Alleghany County recipients are: Leah Bugielski, daughter Jimmy and Robin Bugielski of Sparta, who plans to attend the East Carolina University in Greenville; Alisha Scott, daughter of Gary and Gay Scott of Sparta, who plans to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and Brittany Sturgill, daughter of Randy and Debbie Sturgill of Laurel Springs, who plans to attend Wilkes Community College.

Ashe County recipients are: Kelsy Combs, son of Allen and Shirley Combs of Crumpler, who plans to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Alex Wolfe, son of Kermit Wolfe of Crumpler and Barbara Boyden of Jefferson, who plans to attend Western Carolina University; Aly Cruey, daughter of Vickie Flanagan of Jefferson, who plans to attend Wilkes Community College; and Cory Halsey, son of Doug and Tonya Halsey of Jefferson, who plans to attend Catawba Valley Community College.

The Avery County recipients are: Kayla Potter, daughter of Jackie and Brenda Potter of Elk Park, who plans to attend Caldwell Community College and transfer to East Tennessee State University; and Sara Arnett, daughter of David and Dimple Arnett of Banner Elk, who plans to attend Caldwell Community College.

Watauga County recipients are Aleena Boone, daughter of Barney and Janet Mahala, who will attend Appalachian State University; Wil McGuire, son of Jim and Janet McGuire of Sugar Grove, who plans to attend Appalachian State University; and Jamie Lawrence, daughter of James and Jackie Lawrence of Zionville, who plans to attend Caldwell Community College.

The Johnson County recipient is Nancy Blevins, daughter of Leon and Kitty Blevins of Shady Valley, who plans to attend King College.

Established in 1951, SkyLine is a member-owned cooperative which provides a variety of telecommunications services to customers in Alleghany, Ashe, Avery and Watauga counties in North Carolina and Johnson County in east Tennessee. Along with its current focus of building a fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) network, SkyLine is committed to enhancing the quality of life across the region through various charitable, educational and economic development programs. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, SkyBest Communications, offers de-regulated products and services, including local calling services, business systems and networking solutions, broadband Internet services and long-distance.