First lady visits Ashe County elementary students
AI Literacy training licenses for 1,500 students at a North Carolina elementary school were shared Tuesday by Melania Trump, wife of second-term Republican President Donald Trump.
At Mountain View Elementary School in the Ashe County community of Jefferson, the presentation was made in conjunction with BE BEST Fostering the Future and NVIDIA to provide StudyFetch subscriptions for the Ashe County students. One hundred Jetson Nanon Developer Kits were also distributed for the younger students at Mountain View and other schools in the district.
The noon visit coupled recovery from Hurricane Helene and Mountain View’s curriculum focus on artificial intelligence, robotics and engineering. It came a day before her husband, President Donald Trump, campaigns in Gastonia for U.S. Senate candidate Michael Whatley.
While the visit was not campaign style as typically stereotyped, the politics ongoing with artificial intelligence and the recovery from the state’s worst major disaster are relevant to this year’s midterm election. Melania Trump was last in North Carolina, with her husband, as the first stop out of the White House on the Friday following his inauguration in January 2025 just more than three months after Hurricane Helene found its way to the mountains.
Trump hailed the work of Carrie Robledo, a second-grade teacher at Star Elementary School in Montgomery County – about three hours away and present for the visit – and 2026 Presidential AI Challenge national champion.
“Ms. Robledo built something that no hurricane can destroy, and no flood can wash away: knowledge,” Trump said. “And knowledge is power.
“This is the lasting spirit of America. We may face hard times, but we do not fail. We choose to grow – like a rare young flower pushing through the cold earth after a storm.”
Trump said Robledo created AI Insect Detectives, introducing students to artificial intelligence “using science, curiosity, and the natural world.”
She acknowledged the sacrifice of Assistant Principal Cynthia Harless. When Helene arrived the last weekend of September in 2024, she drove to the school to check on things. Before she could return home, floodwater has taken away the road leaving her and her family stranded.
For the next four weeks, she volunteered at the school’s distribution center.
“All of America saw your town’s strength, Mountain View,” Trump said.
She offered a final word of encouragement before visiting classes.
“Dream big and use these AI tools to build something never created before,” Trump said. “Maybe one of you will create the next great robot. And if you do, make sure you bring it to the White to show me!”
Sunny
