By Clarkie Ackerly

When Upper School Spanish teacher and World Languages department chair Liz Bowling arrived to Collegiate’s campus in 1996, the school and society as a whole looked very different. Robins Campus wasn’t even a concept, the internet was rarely used, and the Sharp Academic Commons was a parking lot. Current Upper School Head Patrick Loach was already here, though, as Director of Technology. Bowling, a member of Collegiate’s faculty for 22 (non-consecutive) years, is set to retire this spring after 27 years in classrooms. 

Bowling spent her early years in Pasadena, California, where she lived until age 14. She then moved to Washington, DC. She attended Colby College in Waterville, Maine. Soon after her graduation, she moved to Lynchburg, Virginia where she taught Spanish and coached girls volleyball and lacrosse at The Virginia Episcopal School (VES). She taught at VES for two years and then later moved to Richmond.

Bowling and her daughter Paige (’20) at Pep Rally 2019. Photo courtesy of Liz Bowling.

Upon her arrival in Richmond, she went on to work as a front office manager at a local chiropractor’s office, where she met her husband Carlisle. In 1996, Bowling applied to teach at Collegiate and joined the community. In 2003, she and her husband adopted their daughter Paige (‘20), and Bowling decided to take a break from teaching for a few years so that she could spend quality time with her daughter. She taught at Powhatan High School for four years during her time away, due to its close proximity to her home. In 2010, Bowling decided to come back to Collegiate and has been here ever since. She said “the transition back was easy. Some faculty and staff changes happened, but the essence of Collegiate was still the same.”  

During her time at Collegiate, she has managed and organized various teams and clubs. She has coached Cub volleyball, was faculty advisor to the Cum Laude Society, a sponsor of the STAR program, and worked on the JK-12 Inclusion Team as a Divisional Diversity Representative. Upper School English teacher and Match advisor Vlastik Svab said, “I know I’ll miss her. As she was part of the Diversity Team for a few years, I always appreciated her wisdom when we discussed issues of diversity among students and faculty.”

The most significant change Bowling has noticed during her time at Collegiate is the pressure students face on a daily basis. In looking back, she said, “I don’t remember the college process and daily lives of students being so intense and demanding.” She also described how different Collegiate looks nowadays. Many new buildings have been created, renovations have been done, and the Robins Campus is now used for the majority of our sporting events, instead of the main campus.

Bowling (center) with fellow faculty Beth Savarese (left) and Hannah Curley (right) dressed up for 80s Day during Spirit Week. Photo courtesy of Liz Bowling.

Bowling has loved her time spent at Collegiate. When asking what her favorite aspect of teaching at Collegiate has been, she described her love for the daily school day. She said, “I have fun all day, every day. The experience of teaching young people, in specifically a language that is full of grammar, culture, and vocab, where we get to speak to one another in a different language and play games, is all super fun to me.”

Bowling is grateful for her fellow faculty and the relationships she has made with them. She said, “They make coming to work enjoyable.” She also said, “Just the feel of the community is one of those things that is really unique, just how people look out for each other and how they have cared for me when things were super hard in my life, is something special.”  

Some of Bowling’s favorite memories from her years at Collegiate have been SCA bowling nights, seeing hypnotist Tom Deluca for the first time, and other SCA-sponsored events. One particular moment she is fond of is when she and longtime French teacher and World Languages department chair Val Siff gave Loach his first pair of jeans. In Bowling’s words, “It was awesome, and we felt like he needed a pair of jeans for his birthday.” She also said, “I think they’re still his only pair.” To put it simply, Bowling said that “all of the days are full of doing funny things and remembering funny things.”

Bowling hiking Machu Picchu during an educators program trip to Peru in 2018. Photo courtesy of Liz Bowling.

In her free time, Bowling enjoys traveling. She has traveled all over the globe and engaged in various adventures. She loves the outdoors and frequently goes on hikes with her husband. She also is an avid OrangeTheory Fitness participant. Lastly, she is delighted in art. She loves taking online classes and creating art in the comfort of her own home. 

Bowling said that “Collegiate will always be a part of my DNA.” Her 22 years spent at Collegiate are greatly valued and appreciated. Spanish student Jackson O’Keefe (‘24) said, “Some of my best memories from Junior year are from her class. I can tell she really values what she does, and she does a great job of teaching kids a second language.” McKenna Boardman (‘24) said, “she created a close environment in our advisory of people who aren’t typically friends and made Spanish one of my favorite subjects because of how much fun we had each day.” Bowling’s warm-hearted personality and always smiling face will be greatly missed next year.

Bowling and her husband hiking near Asheville, North Carolina in 2023. Photo courtesy of Liz Bowling.

Bowling’s post-Collegiate plans consist of spending more time with her husband, who is also retired, and traveling. She said, “Our first trip is planned for late September, when we’ll go to Vancouver, British Columbia.” One of her favorite things to do in her free time is plan trips. Bowling said, “I create Google docs with recommendations, itineraries, and link videos and information, so I spent our staycation doing a lot of research and planning for that trip.” Bowling also said, “ I’ll continue training at Orange Theory, and I’ll likely get more involved with mixed media art.” 

Aside from traveling and her other hobbies, Bowling has hopes and dreams of helping people. She said, “In college, I worked with a lot of student and community health issues, so I could foresee finding opportunities to volunteer somewhere I could combine my love of Spanish and community health.” Bowling also said, “I’ve always had a dream of fixing up a school bus and creating a bookmobile to bring books to areas that don’t have easy access to libraries, so perhaps I’ll create a bilingual book bus!” 

Bowling reflected, “While I am excited about what the future holds, my departure is very bittersweet. My years at Collegiate and my day-to-day experiences with both students and faculty have been incredibly meaningful, enjoyable, and rewarding for me, and I will miss spending each day with the people in this community.”