As she strolled around the lunchroom, Mrs. Trump, a Slovenian-born former model, seemed aware of the power of a photograph. She posed for dozens of selfies, shook hands and invited a few particularly shy-looking students to step closer.

Mrs. Trump and Ms. DeVos visited a sixth-grade classroom where students focused on a lesson geared toward emotional learning. There, the first lady helped students sort words into groups — “isolated” went in one word pile, “together” in another — and huddled with the students to ask about their hobbies and offer them advice.

“Don’t try to copy somebody,” Mrs. Trump said to a group of students in a somewhat stilted side conversation. Smiling, she added, “No drugs. No cigarettes.”

According to her aides, the first lady is aware of criticism directed at her bullying prevention efforts, given the president’s proclivity for digital insults. Stephanie Grisham, the first lady’s communications director, said that Mrs. Trump is an “independent woman” who would continue her efforts.

“She’s used to naysayers,” Ms. Grisham said. “And this is not going to be new for her. She’s made a commitment to children in many different areas, and this is one of them.”

Officials at Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention Center, the organization behind National Bullying Prevention Month, said that they were not aware that the first lady was visiting Michigan but have made efforts to reach out to the White House. Paula F. Goldberg, Pacer’s executive director and co-founder, said in an interview that she hoped Mrs. Trump would “continue speaking out about cyberbullying and bullying prevention.”

“That’s a role she could play, and one that is very important,” Ms. Goldberg added.

Laura Talmus, who helped found Beyond Differences, the Bay Area nonprofit that created “No One Eats Alone” in 2012, said she had also not heard from the White House.