Collings and Angelle: A Valentine's Day Spotlight

By Owen Somerville 

Colten Collings and Sarah Angelle are an engaged teacher couple at Bowling Green High School, and they are living proof that opposites do attract. They have both taught for five years at BGHS, and graduated in the same year after taking classes at Western Kentucky University. Despite their different fields of education and vast differences in personalities, they have found common ground in their love for teaching students—and for each other.

Angelle and Collings first met in an education class at WKU, during a “speed dating” icebreaker activity. The students traveled around the room, talking to each other about predetermined topics. 

When they paired up with each other for the activity, Collings remembers the interaction as him interrupting her during the conversation due to his high interest in the topic they were discussing. He left the class that day believing that Angelle’s first impression of him was that he was inconsiderate and self-centered. However, Angelle remembers nothing negative from the interaction. In retrospect, Collings commented, “[my self-consciousness] was so sad, because everything she said was high-quality, and I loved it.”

Both Angelle and Collings reminisced that after the activity, they realized they shared identical computers, and they bonded over it. An occurrence as simple as that served as the catalyst for a strong future relationship.

At the time, Angelle felt that she was not making much progress with Collings, and she was at a loss for what to do. She had recently restarted the Southern Kentucky Student Organization at WKU, and was in charge of the program. However, she didn’t view herself as a very organized person, and searched for a student who could fill a leadership position.

Angelle realized, “I was trying to think about who else in our program was really good at organizing things, leading things, and is really involved in things, and Mr. Collings was the person that came to mind.”

She took this opportunity to get to know him better, and she invited him to Thai Express. Despite his dislike for Thai food, he agreed to go because Angelle showed interest in the restaurant. Collings’ decision to attend despite his opinion on the food successfully solidified their friendship, and it would continue to deepen throughout college.

Because of their time spent in college, both Angelle and Collings are extremely qualified to teach classes at BGHS. Angelle attended Gatton Academy when she was in high school, and earned a scholarship to attend WKU through the program. Due to her credits earned during her time at Gatton, she was able to pursue four majors: math, middle grades math, STEM education, and Chinese.

During Angelle’s time at WKU, she earned a Fulbright scholarship, allowing her to receive money to teach abroad. She was able to travel to distant parts of the world and teach students in foreign countries. In Angelle’s words, “Always get paid to travel abroad; don’t pay to travel abroad.”

She gained invaluable experience teaching English in Italy, as well as in Taiwan for a year, putting her major in Chinese to good use. Her time spent abroad teaching students who spoke in different languages would translate very well to her ability to teach students at BGHS today.

While Angelle was teaching abroad in Taiwan, Collings was observing classes at BGHS under Mrs. Tara Coomes, who is now an assistant principal. The period of time that Collings observed high school classes resulted in his interest in teaching at BGHS, and he decided to apply for a teaching position there.

Collings told Angelle about his plans to apply to BGHS, and Angelle decided that she wanted to teach in the district as well. She applied for a teaching position at BGJHS, planning to put her major in middle school math to good use. However, she was not accepted for the position. She applied to the high school as a secondary option, and she earned the job she has today.

Angelle explains her reasoning for her first choice being the junior high school, saying, “I wanted to teach middle school, because they’re weirdos and I just like talking to weirdos.”

One aspect of Angelle’s teaching that makes her lessons unique is her positive attitude and bubbly personality in the classroom. Her approachable personality allows students to feel less self-conscious about asking questions, and creates an effective learning environment. 

Angelle gleefully shares, “I really like my job, I really like working with students, and I like whenever they understand something for the first time. Either if they did it on their own or if I helped them get there, it’s just really fun when people have “a-ha” moments, and it makes me really happy.”

While most students know her as the bright face at the high school, few people know the struggles that Angelle faces outside of the classroom. She admits, “I actually do struggle and have struggled with anxiety and depression…I feel like the winter feels really hard for me.”

However, she developed a mindset at a young age to deal with these everyday struggles. One of Angelle’s high school friends had a phrase she would say when a situation became negative, and she truly took it to heart.

Angelle reminisces, “In high school, one of my best friends, Hannah, had this phrase she would say. ‘(Insert terrible thing here), but that’s okay, because…’ I really admired that about her, and I think that was something I internalized…” 

Her optimistic approach to negative situations paved a way for her to see the positive side of nearly every aspect of life. She concluded, “Life’s too short to focus on being unhappy, I guess.”

On the other hand, Mr. Collings’ straightforward personality offers a stark contrast. Ms. Angelle is bubbly and upbeat, and she describes Collings as “a very serious person… but he’s so funny.”

Many of Collings’ hobbies closely relate to his job. He enjoys reading education and biology books, and staying up to date with tech research. Angelle lovingly describes Collings, saying, “He is a nerd, through and through… There’s a difference between a nerd and a geek, and he is a nerd.”

When the couple goes out to buy groceries, antics often ensue. Angelle details that, “I like to look at all the aisles and then I’m trying to figure out what we need as we look… Then we end up going around the store three times, which I don’t mind, but he would much rather just go in order and be done.”

Collings shares a wholesome anecdote involving Angelle, saying, “She loves food! I mean that in the best way. She once ordered a chicken sandwich from Slim Chickens and cried because it was ‘so good!’”

Angelle’s inclination towards appreciating such fine things in life, combined with Colling’s understanding and support creates a solid and healthy relationship with more room to flourish.

Both Angelle and Collings agree that they have many contrasting aspects between them, but they fit together well. Angelle elaborates, “He balances me out in a good way. I’m a very head-in-the-clouds type person, dreamer-ish, and he’s very practical, logical…we bring out the best in each other.”

Collings has a similar conclusion, stating, “In a lot of ways we are opposites, but it seems to mesh well. She’s the idealist, and I’m the realist. However we can both enjoy reading a nice book and watching Harry Potter. We love each other’s commitment to being lifelong learners and helping others to learn about our wonderfully fascinating world.”

Mr. Collings and Ms. Angelle’s story is an interesting one. Through a chance encounter, matching computers, and a pair of teaching jobs secured at BGHS, their past was bright, and their future looks to be even brighter.