Last Updated on May 31, 2026 3:04 pm
BOONE — Jane Elizabeth Beach-Verhey, a Watauga High School senior, has been named the 25th recipient of the John and Ruth Blue Scholarship.
The scholarship awards $8,000 and is renewable for up to four years. It is administered by the John and Ruth Blue Scholarship Endowment, a fund of the Watauga County Community Foundation.
Beach-Verhey is the daughter of Reverend Kathy Beach and Dr. Tim Verhey. She will attend Davidson College in the fall.
A leader at Watauga High
Beach-Verhey is among the top academic students at Watauga High School and a recognized leader in school organizations and athletics. She is president of the National Honor Society and an active member of the Watauga High School Student Council and HOSA. She also serves as a Pioneer Ambassador and a LINK Leader.
She was a captain of the cross-country team and a contributor to the team’s 2025 6A Women’s Cross-Country State Championship title.
Beach-Verhey is an active member of Rumple Memorial Youth Group and has volunteered significantly at Watauga Medical Center and at a rural medical clinic during a mission trip to the Dominican Republic.
About the Blue Scholarship
Established in 2001 by John and Ruth Blue, the scholarship has awarded more than $570,000 to Watauga County students and is one of the largest local scholarships available in the county.
Recipients, known as Blue Scholars, are selected based on academic excellence, physical vigor and activity, and leadership in school, church and community.
The Blues retired to Watauga County in the mid-1990s and wanted to give back to the community that meant so much to them. John Blue’s family organized the Aberdeen and Rockfish Railroad in the early 1900s, which operated as one of the most successful short line railroads in the country and during World War II carried more than one million troops in and out of Fort Bragg.
John Blue died in 2003 and his wife Ruth in 2005. A significant estate gift was made following their deaths to ensure the perpetuity of the scholarship.
To learn more, visit nccommunityfoundation.org/BlueScholarship.
