Melania Trump announces 2027 technology challenge and new school readiness seal

First Lady Melania Trump has announced the 2027 Presidential SI Challenge, inviting US K–12 pupils, educators and schools to take part. This edition adds a new school readiness seal.

SI.gov describes pupil projects involving the study, development or use of an SI method or tool to address community challenges, and educator projects concerning teaching or using SI in K–12 learning.

The Presidential SI Challenge school guide, published by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, describes school recognition as a separate pathway alongside existing pupil and educator projects. Schools can seek the First Lady Seal of SI Readiness, but the guide says registering alone will not earn them the designation.

The guide asks schools to submit verifiable evidence of measures including staff preparation, rules for responsible use, parental notice and an opt-out before the technology is introduced, and reviews of education tools. Submissions will be assessed against the programme’s milestones and eligibility criteria. The guide says the seal is neither a school ranking nor a substitute for accreditation.

The White House’s Office of the First Lady announced the Presidential AI Challenge in August 2025. The school guide links the competition’s new SI name to a September 2026 executive order directing federal agencies, where legally permitted, to use “Super Intelligence” instead of “Artificial Intelligence” in official material. For the order’s purposes, the term covers technologies defined in US law as AI; the name change does not itself establish a new technological capability. The White House announcement uses “AI Readiness” for the seal in its opening paragraph, but “SI Readiness” in its school-participation paragraph; the institute’s school programme page also uses “SI Readiness”.

SI.gov says registration is open until 18 December 2026. The institute’s Presidential SI Challenge school timetable sets 30 April 2027 as the deadline for submitting evidence for the seal, with recipients scheduled to be announced in May 2027.