Couple get engaged in the classroom where they first met after 10 years together

A couple who met in a 5th-grade classroom have been together for a decade, and now their love story has come full circle after the elementary school sweethearts got engaged in the very same classroom where it all began.

Simon Jenkins (@simon.jenkins) and Peyton Wynn (@p.wynn) both 21 from Alabama were 11 years old when they became friends at Johnson Elementary School in Pinson and last month it was the venue for their 10-year anniversary where Jenkins popped the question in a sentimental proposal.

"Little did I know we were actually going to the place it all started, and I finally got to say yes to the love of my life," Wynn told PEOPLE. "It was like something out of a dream."

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She described Jenkins as her "best friend" and remembered how she felt there was "something special" shortly after they met as the pair went to their first homecoming dance together in the fall.

It seems the feeling was definitely mutual as Jenkins told NBC affiliate WVTM-TV about his feelings towards Wynn after they first met - "When I first set eyes on Peyton in elementary school, I felt my heart beat a little faster," he said.

And those feelings only progressed when in the eighth grade Jenkins had an epiphany when "it started to hit me" that Wynn "could be the one."

A decade on and the couple celebrated their anniversary on June 16 with a dinner date but need an excuse to take Wynn to their old elementary school which is where Jenkins' event planner mum stepped up with the perfect reason for the detour.

"She told me that she forgot something at her PTA meeting at Johnson Elementary School," he told the same outlet.

"I apologized to Peyton and told her we needed to stop by the school. You should have seen Peyton's face when she walked into that classroom," Jenkins added as the engagement photos show how the classroom was transformed.

There were white flower petals, candles, a backdrop framed in greenery with the message "It was always you," and of course, the giant letters "MARRY ME" sitting on the top of some of the desks.

In another touching gesture, the couple's 5th-grade teacher was also present to celebrate the occasion.

"For any teacher that is asked or wonders 'Why we do what we do,'" Patti Hathorn wrote in a heartwarming Facebook post. "My response is this: We get to watch more than just academic growth in our classrooms."

"We watch laughter. We watch friendships blossom and grow. We watch as these relationships continue to develop, and often we get to witness them last a lifetime. And, in some instances, we are privileged to be a part of this continuance."

"It was such an honour to be asked to be present," she added. "It is another moment that reminds me of my 'why' as I continue to love 'my' children each year."

The couple is set to walk down the aisle in Autumn 2023, Wynn told PEOPLE.

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