 Ring in the New Year with amazing savings from Appalachian Wireless. Get the Galaxy S7 for just $49.99 when you sign a renew a two-year service agreement. Better service, bigger savings. That's today's Appalachian Wireless. Family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues join together at Big Sandy Community and Technical College in Paintsville Wednesday as 35 students became the first graduating class of Tech Higher Eastern Kentucky. Kentucky is a partnership between Interapt, Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment, Shaping Our Appalachian Region, Appalachian Regional Commission, and Big Sandy Community and Technical College. The program focuses on teaching students codes that fuel mobile apps and other applications all while allowing them to gain that education right here in Eastern Kentucky. We are trying our best to move the region forward and move it in a new direction into economic opportunities that are not always what we've always done. The digital economy is going to do nothing but continue to explode and grow as our lives become more dependent every day on technology. Now that the group has received its certificate for completing the six weeks course, the students will go through an internship process with Interapt at the Big Sandy Mayo campus. For some, it was an emotional day. We've spent a lot of time together. These guys started out, I've been with them from when they did their video interviews. I've reviewed over 800 video interviews and basically selected this group. And it's been from 54 to 35, we spend every day together and it's like family. One graduate from Techie is actually a student at Big Sandy Community and Technical College and is majoring in computer coding. He says the Techie program will give him a leg up. I've always been really interested in technology and coding, so it's really something that I guess I kind of loved it too. Reception and open house were held after the ceremony. Reporting in Paintsville for EKB News, I'm Shelby Steele.