Early in the morning, the Dowling halls lie empty and quiet because no students are here yet. As he pulls up in his Prius to the school, one teacher sets up in his classroom and gets to moving right away. He brings his cyan water bottle, swings it, and makes his way to the Dowling Chapel for morning prayer and reflection. He takes time to pray and reflect on what the day will bring ahead. As he exits the chapel, he sees his students in the halls and greets them with a glowing smile and happy personality. You know who I am talking about and that teacher is Mr.Colle in room 404 who teaches Earth Science. He has a lot behind him than just his water bottle and his daily pilgrimage to the Dowling Chapel. Dig with me to find out how awesome and interesting Mr. Colle is!
Mr. Colle was born November 23, 1992, in Luxemburg, Wisconsin. He was born to Sue and Michael Colle and he has two older brothers Michael and Matthew. Michael is a meat science professor at the University of Idaho and Matthew is a priest in the Diocese of Green Bay. Colle grew up on a farm and was surrounded by a lot of nature and livestock.
Colle started his education at Saint Mary’s Catholic School from kindergarten to sixth grade. He then attended Luxemburg-Casco Middle and High School. He was involved in the Conversation Club and in his first two years of high school, he was in FFA (Future Farmers of America) as an officer. During freshman year, he was a reporter for FFA, and in sophomore year he became president of the club. He did a lot of cattle showing where you take a cow and show it to audiences and judges. He also enjoyed skiing a lot and found it to be a relaxing pastime.
One story from his school days was how he delivered a cow after a school dance. Yes, you heard me. Colle attended the dance with his date and came home hearing the news of a cow needing to give birth. So, stepping up to the plate he delivered the cow’s baby.
Colle also did a lot of livestock and meat judging, even going to nationals. He won cattle showing on the national level and grew up on a farm, so he had a lot of cattle, sheep, turkey, and ducks. Colle even had a donkey named Salty and he also did a lot of canoeing and camping a lot.
After high school, Colle went to the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point and studied Natural Science and minored in Biology. One of his pastimes in college was broomball hockey and he played as a goalie. In the summer, Colle had internships at North Carolina and Green Bay. In North Carolina, he took care of loggerhead sea turtles and in Green Bay he worked with raptors, hawks, and owls.
Eventually, Colle got around to student teaching at Denmark High School and taught Chemistry and Biology for one semester. After that semester, he moved to Texas and from there he found his beloved affection for BBQ and lived in Tyler, Texas. He moved there because of his wife’s new job as a zookeeper. During his time in Texas, he taught at Hubbard Middle School and taught 6th-grade science. He didn’t enjoy it very much and thus prompted his move to an early college high school where he taught Physics, AP Physics, and Chemistry. “I didn’t like Texas because of the climate.” He wasn’t too fond of Texas’s hot and humidity but pushed through it. One thing he took away from Texas was his huge dislike for Dallas Cowboys fans. After COVID-19, he never returned to Texas because he was visiting his wife in Iowa during spring break. All in all, Colle spent four years in Texas and moved back to Wisconsin where he later got married.
In the fall of 2020, he started his career here at Dowling Catholic and taught Earth Science and Physics initially. Colle’s inspiration to be a teacher was from a teacher named Mr. Frisk who was Colle’s Bio teacher. As most first-year teachers at DCHS, Colle started off as a cart teacher, but now resides in room 404. What Colle enjoys about Dowling is the student interactions and loves laughing with them.
Mr. Colle is happily married. The couple met in high school where they had classes together. She even rode Salty his donkey! Eventually they went to see the movie “Avatar” after a basketball game. When they were driving to the movie, Colle got scared to ask her out so he dropped her off and decided to call her afterwards. The couple got married in 2016 in Luxemburg and are happily married to this day. Mrs. Colle is a zookeeper at the Blank Park Zoo and works with lions, tigers, sea lions, otters, and lemurs.
Colle has been blessed with a daughter named Grace who is 15 months old. He finds Grace to be his huge source of euphoria and loves seeing her grow up.
“Don’t take life too seriously.”
That was a piece of advice Colle gave to me when interviewing him. His reason behind that is when you look back on memories, it wasn’t a big deal than you made it to be. An impact he has gotten from Dowling Catholic High School is that his faith has grown while working here. He loves being surrounded by the Catholic community and culture that Dowling offers. Colle initially didn’t want to teach at Catholic schools because he thought students would be too privileged. Now, his viewpoint has changed as he enjoys teaching the students of Dowling Catholic. He has certainly felt the love here and knows God led him here.
Now, the moment you guys have been waiting for. Here are some fun facts about Mr. Colle you might have not known.
- Once flew a plane
- Lived on an island one summer
- Has never eaten a salad
- Watched fireworks from above (from a plane)
- Has been mistaken for a Walmart employee
- Used to work for Sears and deliver packages for Amazon
- Has been bitten by a hawk
- Rides a bike and has done multiple 100-mile rides
- Favorite movie is “Shawshank Redemption”
A theme I observed while interviewing Colle is that he loves nature and God’s creation. Colle has grown a sense of love and caretaking for the creation God has blessed us with. He also loves his daughter Grace a lot and knows it’s a huge struggle to take care of a child but knows it is all worth it in the end.
My personal experience with Mr. Colle is his passion and his cheerfulness in every class I had him in. He always knows how to bring his passion to class whether we are learning about different types of rocks or knowing how earthquakes are formed. I also see him coming to and from the Dowling Chapel, thus resonating his growth in and love for the Catholic faith.
His concluding quote to me was, “Keep your eye on the ball.” He told me the ball in question is Heaven and we must also strive to be the best version of ourselves every day.
If you ever see Mr. Colle coming from the chapel or in the halls, don’t be afraid to say hi because he is a smart, carefree, and awesome teacher and person. Dowling is blessed to have a teacher like Mr. Colle teaching future generations of students and impacting them for the long run.
