Albuquerque Journal

When the second-graders at Bel-Air Elementary School started marching in place Monday morning, first lady Laura Bush got right in step. And she chimed in when the class hollered in boot-camp cadence the lesson of the day: "I don't guess about what to do; I always stop and think it through!"

The first lady spent about an hour at the Albuquerque school Monday to see how Mothers Against Drunk Driving's "Protecting You/Protecting Me" program teaches decision-making. The curriculum, taught by 1,200 New Mexico teachers, concentrates on the effects of alcohol on developing brains and decision-making skills. Instead of "just say no," MADD New Mexico executive director Terry Huertaz said the program helps children figure why they should say no.

The second-graders in Jessica Maes' classroom did their squirmy best to control themselves as they waited for their important guest.

Blaire Salazar, wearing a pint-sized gray suit and tie for the occasion, explained for the first lady why it would be best not to take a ride in a car that didn't have a seat belt that worked. "You can get into a bad wreck," he said, "and then you won't be alive."

Bush moved on to a fifth-grade classroom where "Protecting You/Protecting Me" instructor Renee Weldon was leading a dozen students in a discussion about the consequences of poor choices.

"It's very, very important to think about how you act and make decisions," she told them. "All your decisions affect your life. In the end, you're really responsible for your own life."

Marcus Martinez, 11, filled the first lady in on how alcohol kills brain cells and later said he was happy to get to sit down with her.

"I was excited because not a lot of people have met the president's wife or the president," he said.

There was also time for the fifth-graders to get to know Bush. They asked about her pets, about living at the White House and about how she gets around.

She told them she didn't ride in a limo in Albuquerque, only a big SUV, and that she didn't fly in on Air Force One because she only gets to ride on that plane when she's with her husband. (Another difference between the president and the first lady: His motorcade doesn't stop at red lights, but hers does.) And while he had the ear of someone close to the president, Dominic Duran had to test a conspiracy theory. "I've always wanted to ask this question," he said. "Is Area 51 real?"

Bush laughed and demurred, saying, "I'm not really privileged to that information."

The first lady was in Albuquerque for about two hours Monday, headlining a fundraising breakfast for Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., before making the stop at Bel-Air Elementary and then flying on to Nebraska.

Wilson, described by Bush as a "clear, conservative voice in Congress," said she raised about $200,000 at the breakfast, which was attended by about 150 people. Wilson is seeking re-election this year.