SAN ANTONIO — One teacher has been teaching at this school since it first opened. She remembers meeting Barbara Bush and says at that moment she knew, she was meeting a very remarkable first lady.
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"We were all excited that day. And a little nervous," said English teacher Margaret Boehme.
It was 20 years ago.
"We were thrilled to have Mrs. Bush visit us in October of 1998. Our inaugural year," she said.
But the English teacher remembers meeting former First Lady Barbara Bush like it was yesterday.
"She was wearing her signature blue suit and her three strands of pearls," she said. "We shook hands and she just was so happy to be here. She genuinely was so excited to have a school named after her. I think that must have meant a great deal to her that day."
Barbara Bush Middle School on San Antonio's north side was brand new and became the center of attention that year. The first lady's special guest caused lots of excitement too.
"She came with her son George W. Bush who had just been on the cover of Time Magazine. He was Governor at the time," she said. "They drove up in a motorcade, limousines, the flags, secret service everywhere."
But the biggest impression Boehme says, was Mrs. Bush's genuine interest in the students.
" I think we all felt she was really sharp. She knew what she was about. Literacy was her thing as a first lady and that was very evident. She walked into the school and she was asking pertinent questions and interacting with the kids. She had read what they had read and she could talk to them about it. When she left we were all very impressed with her," she explained.
Over the years Mrs. Bush remained close to her namesake middle school.
"There was a particular teacher who is now retired who used to write her every year and give her an update as to what was happening at the school. And she never failed to respond," she said
Though she is gone, her lessons stand the test of time.
A woman who cared, Boehme says, and taught others to do the same.