Melania Trump links North Carolina hurricane recovery to AI education
The First Lady returned to Mountain View Elementary School in Ashe County, where the White House said the school became a community support site after Hurricane Helene.
First Lady Melania Trump returned to Mountain View Elementary School in Ashe County, North Carolina, nearly two years after Hurricane Helene struck the region. Her visit focused on the community’s recovery and the expansion of artificial-intelligence education in local schools.
The White House said the hurricane caused severe flooding, infrastructure damage and widespread outages across North Carolina. Mountain View Elementary was used as a distribution centre and support site, providing food, water, supplies, counselling and other assistance, according to remarks prepared for the visit.
The visit also highlighted Carrie Robledo, a North Carolina second-grade teacher described by the White House as a 2026 Presidential AI Challenge national champion. Robledo’s project, “AI Insect Detectives”, introduced young students to artificial intelligence through science and the natural world.
The White House said the Presidential AI Challenge drew more than 20,000 participants from all 50 states. The statement presented the competition and Robledo’s work as part of a broader effort to connect disaster recovery with technical education.
BE BEST Fostering the Future, NVIDIA and StudyFetch provided AI-literacy training licences for 1,500 students and 100 Jetson Nano robotics kits for Mountain View Elementary and other schools in the district. The resources are intended to support lessons in artificial intelligence, physical AI and technical skills.
