Bismarck Tribune
By BRIAN DUGGAN

Riverside Elementary School student Trey Dockter saw his first celebrity on Thursday: first lady Laura Bush.

But what did Trey, 8, take from Bush's speech inside his school's gymnasium?

"I thought she was pretty," Trey said. "I liked her hairstyle."

Bush visited Riverside Thursday to promote Picturing America, a program by the National Endowment for the Humanities that recently gave the school 40 replicas of famous American art.

Some of those artworks, including George Catlin's portrait of the Mandan people, were displayed inside Riverside's gymnasium where Bush spoke to dozens of students, teachers and local leaders Thursday afternoon.

Before Bush spoke, a flag-lapel-wearing Torrance Israel, 11, introduced the first lady in front of all his peers with a short speech about the art.

How did he feel?

"Happy. Excited. Nervous," Torrance said afterward.

Torrance's mother, Dawn Israel, 33, said she could not believe the news when she learned that her son had been chosen to introduce Bush.

"I had to ask again to make sure it was for real," Israel said.

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Bush, a former school librarian, told the students seated on the basketball court to cherish history and to learn from it.

"History is more than just a list of names and dates," Bush said. "It's an ongoing story."

Riverside Principal Wilda Lu Nelson, who ushered Bush around the school, said the first lady is "common, just like you and me."

"It was an opportunity of a lifetime not only for me, but for the kids," Nelson said.

Julie Roth, whose daughter got to shake Bush's hand, said she was excited to finally see the first lady in person.

"She didn't seem real to me until I did see her," Roth said.

As for Roth's 11-year-old daughter, Kelsey Roth, who was chosen to greet the first lady?

"It was awesome," Kelsey said of the experience.

Bush also visited Sue Weekes' fourth-grade class to visit with them about the artwork given to the school.

"I think they felt awed by it all," Weekes said of her class. "They had a lot of questions."

Weekes said she gave her students a vocabulary lesson on words such as "dignitary" and "White House" before Bush paid them a visit.

"It was a great experience for the kids and myself," Weekes said.

Abby Schmidt, 10, was one of those students.

"I thought it was pretty cool," Abby said, noting Bush spoke to the class about Catlin's Mandan portrait. "I was really excited."

(Reach reporter Brian Duggan at 223-8482 or brian.duggan@;bismarcktribune.com)

Bismarck Tribune By BRIAN DUGGAN

Bismarck Tribune
By BRIAN DUGGAN