Owner/Director of Cheer - Jenna Montgomery
Coach Jenna comes to us from Buffalo, NY. She participated in all-star cheerleading for 7 years at Elite Heat All Stars, where she competed at The Cheerleading Worlds & The Cheerleading Summit 3 times! She went on to pursue her cheerleading career in college, where she won a National Championship with Drury University at UCA College Nationals 2020! She has been coaching for several years in many positions from Junior High teams in Nixa MO, tumbling coach positions at all star gyms, & director of cheerleading at Pride. As owner, she is dedicated to creating an environment for athletes to constantly evolve while helping them navigate the struggles & triumphs of life. She is extremely grateful to be in this role at Pride! She can’t wait to see where our amazing families & staff take our program!
Director of dance - Alexis Barnett
Alexis Barnett is Arkansas raised and has called Northwest Arkansas home since she was two. She began dancing at Williams Center at three years old training in ballet, tap, and jazz. When she was five she began dancing at All That Dance. She danced there for fifteen years and competed for thirteen. While at All That Dance she trained and competed in tap, jazz, ballet, lyrical, contemporary, hiphop, and musical theatre. She competed across the country and received numerous awards in group and individual categories including: World Champion at Disney Dance, title awards in all genres, and jazz and contemporary icon. Outside of studio, Alexis participated in multiple school sports. She cheered for five years starting in eighth grade at Elmwood Middle School and continued on the next four years at Rogers High School. Her team won state runner up two consecutive years and competed at UCA nationals in Disney World her sophomore and junior year. She was the captain of her team every year, she was awarded All-American all 5 years, and Arkansas All-Star cheerleader her senior year. Starting her sophomore year it was allowed to compete in both cheer and dance, so she joined the dance team and competed for two years in kick, pom, jazz and hiphop. Alexis is now in her second year at the University of Arkansas pursuing a bachelors in education. Alexis was a senior in the year of 2020 and did not get her senior season in any of her sports. This makes being a teacher all the more special as she can continue being a part of the sports she loves and has dedicated her life to. She is so excited to be a teacher at Pride and honored to be a part of her dancers’ and cheerleaders’ lives. She hopes to cultivate a positive, supportive, and loving environment. She will do her best to instill not only skill and knowledge, but love, kindness, hardwork, and dedication into all those she has the pleasure of teaching.
Dance Instructor - Caden Bohannan
Caden Bohannan was born and raised in Springdale, Arkansas and has been dancing for 12 years. He began dancing at the age of 9 at Dare 2 Dance, Dance Co. in Springdale, AR where he competed in Hip Hop. Caden shortly moved to All That Dance, Dance Co in Bentonville to expand his knowledge of the industry, he began studying and competing in Jazz, Tap, Musical Theatre, Contemporary as well as HipHop. Caden has received multiple awards and titles throughout his years dancing in both group and solo categories and has worked with renowned choreographers such as Chris’s Judd and Lane Napper. He is now excited to call Pride of Arkansas his home where he hopes to teach younger generations not only how to dance but the love the sport and the community and life long friendships that the world of dance can bring. Beyond the dance floor, Caden is currently studying for a Bachelor's in Business Administration with a focus in Merchandise Management at Southern New Hampshire University, with which he hopes to pursue a career in Merchandising.
ASSISTANT CHEER COACH - EMMA GIST
Emma Gist was born and raised in Northwest Arkansas. She started off as a competitive gymnast until she was 9. She then went on to do competitive cheerleading at Infiniti Athletics for 8 years. There she competed levels 2-6 finishing her all star career being a 2 time NCA champion and 2 time Summit National champion. She began school cheerleading and competing in 8th grade at Fulbright Junior High, then transitioned to Bentonville High School. She was on the freshmen team her first year then on the varsity competition team the following three years. Those thee years her team won back to back to back Arkansas State Championships in the 6A Co-ed division. Her team also competed at UCA High School Nationals at ESPN in Orlando her senior year. She was named All-American for 4 consecutive years. Throughout high school she also represented Rebel Athletic Cheer as a talent model until 2023. She graduated with honors from Bentonville High School in 2022 and is now currently a student at the University of Arkansas studying supply chain management. She is thrilled to continue sharing her passion for cheerleading through coaching.