HONOLULU -- First lady Laura Bush met with military members and their dependents on Tuesday morning to discuss housing and schooling for military families in the islands.

Bush greeted the small group of military dependents and active duty members at Camp Smith before sitting down for a half-hour discussion about quality of life in the islands for military families.

Radford High School senior Kimberly Kisner said she was nervous and excited to meet the first lady.

"She made me feel so welcome, that I was able to calm down. I was still excited because it was the first lady, but she made me feel like she wanted to be here, so I could calm down and just enjoy being with her," Kisner said.

Kisner and two other Radford students told the first lady about a program that helps new students adjust at their school, where 70 percent of the kids come from military families.

Radford gets at least one new student every day of the school year.

"So we're there during the recess, we're there at lunch, we just talk to them, make them feel like they have a friend when they first get in the door, so they don't feel uncomfortable at all in their new environment," Kisner said.

"We just go over the culture and pidgin and different things about Hawaii that the kids really love," Radford student Marquis Johnson said.

They said they are eager to share their experience with friends and family.

"I saw the president's wife. I saw the queen of the free, free world," Johnson said.

Each of them got a gift from the White House: a brand new atlas.