Michelle Obama announces her final event as first lady

Michelle Obama's final official event as first lady will be honouring the school counsellor of the year on Friday (6 January).

The annual accolade was her own initiative and creation and she has presided over it every year since her husband took office in 2008. Last year she joked that the ceremony could be her last White House event "before they kick us out in January of 2017".

The first lady created the award to recognise school counsellors and their role within schools, which Obama described as the "deciding factor" in many students' decisions to attend higher education.

She modelled the ceremony on the Teacher of the Year award, and has praised the work counsellors do. Eric Waldo, executive director of Reach Higher, Obama's education initiative, has stressed that some counsellors are responsible for up to 470 students.

Obama's chief of staff, Tina Tchen, told the Associated Press (AP): "Much like Teacher of the Year has become a 50-year tradition for the White House, regardless of party, we certainly think counsellors are deserving of the same accolades."

The 2017 counselor of the year has been named as Terri Tchorzynski, who works at Calhoun Area Career Center in Battle Creek, Michigan, and will receive her award from Obama this week.

The Obamas are set to leave the White House after eight years ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on 20 January. Staff have revealed there will be an extremely quick turnaround as the Obamas' belongings are moved out and Trump moves in.

"It's more like organised chaos," Chief White House Usher Stephen Rochon told CNN's State of the Union, explaining that after the Obamas leave at 10.30am, staff will have just six hours to prepare the building for Trump.