FLOTUS pool report #1 - North Carolina arrival

First Lady Melania Trump landed in Ashe County NC at 10:54 am.

She exited the plane at 11:04 am and waved to the pool.

She’s wearing a green leather jacket, ivory sweater, pencil skirt with tennis stripes, and dark green Manolo pumps.

She’s visiting Mountain View Elementary as it recovers from Hurricane Helene. The school also has a strong STEM program.

FLOTUS will give remarks discussing the importance of technology in education and she will visit classrooms to see how the students use AI in their lessons.

The motorcade is rolling to the school at 11:07 am.

Note: The First Lady traveled on a small white Gulf Stream plane in order to be able to land at the small county airport. Pool did not travel with her due to space reasons but came ahead of her in ospreys. Pool was informed of travel arrangements last night so had plenty of notice of the separate travel.

The East Wing tweeted video of her leaving the White House:

Background per the East Wing:

BACKGROUND

Hurricane Helene Impact in Ashe County

September 27, 2024 marks the two-year anniversary when Hurricane Helene hit North Carolina. Ashe County Schools including Mountain View Elementary School closed for two weeks after the storm, with students returning after 33 days. Ashe County Schools broadly became part of the community’s emergency response infrastructure, publicly described as essentially the “first line of defense” during the crisis. While not significantly damaged, it opened as an emergency child-care center the day after the storm, and was subsequently designated as community distribution sites for supplies.

Ashe County Schools received hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant funding from the Trump Administration to support school community recovery efforts, Public Assistance FEMA grants for debris removal, and other miscellaneous FEMA grants.

Mountain View Elementary School (MVES)

MVES is a public elementary school located in rural Jefferson, North Carolina. The school serves approximately 566 Pre-K through sixth grade students, has approximately 40 full-time-equivalent classroom teachers, and the student-to-teacher ratio is 14:1.

MVES’ vision statement is “From Strong STEM Experiences to Rural Innovation.” Their five-year strategic plan, “Future Opportunities through Rural Growth & Engineering” or FORGE is designed to transform existing STEM activities into a coherent, place-based learning model in which students use artificial intelligence, robotics, engineering, data, design, fabrication, mathematics, science, reading, and writing to solve authentic community problems. The goal is to connect students with authentic community problems, industry mentors, responsible AI, engineering, and career pathways, while building the teacher capacity, partnerships, and infrastructure needed to sustain the work. MVES is also working to achieve the North Carolina STEM School of Distinction designation.

Emily Goodin
New York Post
Tue. Sep. 15, 11:09 AM

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