11-year-old journalist interviews Garth Brooks

HOUSTON – Sitting in the front row of the Garth Brooks news conference Tuesday afternoon was an unusual participant: 11-year-old Mariah Barrientos.

She is a fifth grader at Rucker Elementary School in southeast Houston.

She had a question for Brooks.

But first, he had a question for her.

"Hi, Miss Mariah. And how old are you?" Brooks said.

The international recording star stopped the ordinary Q-and-A to have a conversation with the 11-year-old prospective journalist.

WATCH: Garth Brooks talks about opening and closing Houston Rodeo

Barrientos, who wants to be a sports reporter, told KPRC 2, "I'm kind of inferring he never met a child that would ask questions to him."

She and other journalism students from her school learned Brooks, himself, studied journalism.

"I learned that he's very generous with time and he’s kind of cute," Barrientos said.

Her teacher at Rucker, Lucia Moreno, is a former journalist and entertainment publicist who said it’s important for students to see and experience new things.

"Like Garth told them yesterday, see the world, go to college ... but he says, always come home," Moreno said.

Brooks even gave Barrientos and her classmates tickets to his performance Tuesday night.

It was her first concert.

But first, he answered her question about opening and closing the rodeo.

"The fact that we get to open and close it with two shows, that's a wonderful compliment. So, we feel very flattered," Brooks said.