Alabama Couple Gets Engaged in 5th Grade Classroom Where They First Met

Eleven years after their love story began, an Alabama couple went back to where they first met—in a fifth grade classroom—for a surprise engagement.

Peyton Wynn and Simon Jenkins were 11 years old when they first met at Johnson Elementary School in Pinson. Wynn told Insider that after being friends for a while, they "officially" started dating in sixth grade.

"I can't explain it, but I just knew there was something different about him the moment we met," she told the outlet. "Our first official date was sixth-grade homecoming, and we've been together ever since."

"When I first set eyes on Peyton in elementary school, I felt my heart beat a little faster," Jenkins told WVTM 13. "There was just something special about Peyton."

On June 16, the couple was on their way to a restaurant to celebrate their 10-year anniversary when Jenkin's mom called to tell them that she had forgotten something at her PTA meeting at Johnson Elementary School. Mom, who was in on the plan, asked them to stop by the school and pick it up.

"When we first walked in, it felt so weird to be back to the place where we grew up and first met. It gave me butterflies to be there for the first time in years," Wynn recalled to Insider.

Unbeknownst to Wynn, Jenkins' mom had decorated their old fifth grade classroom with marquee letters spelling "Marry Me" and a banner that read, "It was always you, Peyton + Simon." Before she knew it, Jenkins was down on one knee.

"I wanted to take her back to where it all began, where I first fell in love with her," Jenkins explained to Insider.

The couple have reportedly started planning their wedding for 2023.