Jenna Bush Joins the Today Show

NBC's Today show has hired Jenna Bush Hager as a new correspondent.

The 27-year-old teacher and daughter of George W. Bush will contribute once a month with stories on issues like education to TV top-rated morning news show.

Jenna Bush said she has always wanted to be a teacher and a writer, and has already authored two books. But she was intrigued by the idea of getting into TV.

"It wasn't something I'd always dreamed to do," she said. "But one of the most important things in life is to be open-minded and to be open-minded for change."

Jenna will essentially work two part-time jobs as a correspondent for Today and in her school, where she will be a reading coordinator this year.

She was on the morning news program two years ago to promote her book about an HIV-infected single mother, Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope, and it went so well that Hager's short interview was stretched to nearly a half hour.

She and her mother, Laura Bush, also co-hosted an hour of Today about the time their picture book came out. She "just sort of popped to us as a natural presence, comfortable" on the air, said executive producer Jim Bell.

"I think she can handle it," he said. "I think she knows something about pressure and being under scrutiny. When she came here, she knocked it out of the park."

Jenna, who married Henry Hager last year, will work out of NBC's Washington bureau.

"I hope to focus on what I'm passionate about because I think I'd do them best job on them urban education, women and children's issues and literacy," she said.

While not as exciting as Melissa Rycroft joining the staff of Good Morning America, we're happy for Jenna and her newest career endeavor.