1 of 5 | First lady Melania Trump poses with winners of the Presidential AI Regional Challenge on Tuesday in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. The challenge recognizes both student and educator teams who designed AI-based solutions for community challenges. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
June 9 (UPI) — On Tuesday, first lady Melania Trump honored student winners of the first Presidential Artificial Intelligence Challenge National Champion Awards at the White House.
“It is wonderful to see this very impressive group of innovators at the White House,” she said at the ceremony. “I’m proud that you represent the best of America. You are our future.”
Trump said that 20,000 students from 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Defense Department schools in 10 countries took part in the challenge.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in 2025 to start the program.
Michael Kratsios, White House Office of Science and Technology policy director, said students produced more than 2,500 projects “aiming to overcome some of their communities’ greatest challenges using AI.”
“They worked on everything: tools that help navigate the complexity of school in the online world, that improve local government efficiency and effectiveness, that synthesize real-world information for crime fighting, that guard their communities against hazardous chemicals, and they all succeeded,” Kratsios said.
The winners of the challenge’s educator track include Carrie Robledo of Star Elementary in Star, N.C. The second winner was the team of An Nguyen, Bridget Blash and Regina Knowlton of Cherry Hill, N.J.
“Today is about opening doors,” Melania Trump said at the ceremony. “When doors open, passions flow, courage blossoms and dreams are realized. AI inspires. Use this chapter of your life to sail away with your dreams.”
Other winners included a team from Alcoa Intermediate School in Alcoa, Tenn.; a community group team from Aldie, Va.; a team from NorthStar Middle School in Sammamish, Wash.; a team from Julia Landon College Preparatory School in Jacksonville, Fla.; a team from Upper Darby Senior High School in Drexel Hill, Pa.; and a team from North Allegheny High School in Sewickley, Pa.
Every student who submitted a compliant project for the challenge received a Presidential Certificate of Participation.
President Donald Trump discusses renovations to the Lincoln Reflecting Pool and makes an announcement on coal in the Oval Office at the White House on Thursday. Photo by Samuel Corum/UPI | License Photo
