Jill's Journal: Out of the mouths of babes

In this job, I often take in programs at our schools, and last week when  I spied Grandparent’s Day was on the calendar at Brandon Elementary, I knew I had to stop by. There was sure to be a few sweet moments to capture in photos.

But a sweet photo wasn’t the only thing I came away with from the day; as you are reading, I got a column out of it, too, thanks to Principal Merle Horst.

If you haven’t met Mr. Horst, he’s a great principal who simply loves his job. And in his longtime position, I have no doubt that he has more stories than as my folks used to say, “Carter has liver pills.”

Last week, the Brandon Elementary principal didn’t disappoint. Before a lunchroom packed shoulder to shoulder with grandparents eagerly waiting to be united with their grandkids, Merle told the story of a kindergartner with a hint of a lisp that brought the room to laughter. As he shared, following the youngster’s first day of school this year, his mother of course wanted to know about his day and all the new things he had experienced.

He was quick to tell her that there was ‘a horse in the grass with a whissle.’

She asked him to repeat what he’d said, and once again, he shared there was ‘a horse in the grass with a whissle.’

Confused about what kind of an education her son was being exposed to at Brandon Elementary, she did what all good – and confused moms – would do: she dialed up the school and asked just what took place at school that day.

She explained the story her son had told her about when she asked him about his first day of kindergarten.

“There was a horse in the grass with a whissle.”

Much to the delight of the school staffer who answered the call, they assured the confused mom that what her son was telling her was correct, yet mis-communicated, hence the misunderstanding.

“That was Mr. Horst, our principal,” the school employee shared.

“And yes, he was standing in the grass,” they went on to say.

“And, he had a whistle,” they concluded.

While we were only told Mr. Horst’s side of the story last week, I can only imagine the roar of laughter around the kindergarten family dinner table that night. It’s sure to be a story that will surface from time to time, just like the ‘horse in the grass with a whissle’ has been greeting youngsters to school for years.