Pam Raisher-Owner, Dance Instructor
Pam has trained thousands of northland dancers and gymnasts over her 37 years in business. She enjoys her role as owner and business woman but she is a dancer at heart. Over the years she has trained with such dance legends as Lugi, Gus Giordano, Charles Kelly, Frank Hachett and most recently Wade Robson.
She has also been a local actress and model for over 25 years. She has performed in radio and television commercials for such companies as McDonalds, Hallmark Cards, Wal-Mart and Sprint just to name a few. Pam has two sons, Colden and Jordan that she is extremely proud of and she loves Mexican food and the beach!
Ryan Fearing- Gymnastics Instructor
Ryan started his gymnastics career at CAA as a gymnast many moons ago. He has been with CAA ever since! He has been coaching since 1993. Ryan has coached a little bit of everything but currently coaches levels 1and 2. Ryan is a USA Gymnastics Pro Member and is safety and CPR certified.
Ryan has a bachelor’s degree from UMKC in Psychology and a bachelor’s degree from Park University in Early Childhood Education. He also holds a Masters Degree in Teaching from University of Saint Mary. In addition to coaching Mr. Ryan also teaches Kindergarten in the North Kansas City School District. He also created and maintains this nifty website. How does he have time?!
Karen Burec- Gymnastics Instructor
Karen teaches levels 4 and 5, including tumbling and our tumble team. She was a competitive gymnast for 5 years. Karen also danced for her high school and college dance teams, and was a member of the Kansas City Comets Galaxy girl dance team for 5 years.
Karen is currently a Marketing Manager for John Knox Village and has been in marketing for over 10 years. Karen loves to travel. She just recently returned from Africa where she climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. She loves the outdoors and would love to reach all 7 summits (the highest peaks on each continent) with her son, 3 year old husky chow mix, Spencer! He even has his own backpack!
Jessica Cohick- Gymnastics Instructor
Jessica has been with CAA since she was 6 years old. She was a gymnast here for 7 years. She began her competitive career at 7 and competed until she was 13. She retired as a Level 7. Her favorite event is beam. Jessica says that her favorite thing about working at CAA is working with young children and watching them grow up and the amazing staff.
Jessica is a full time Nursing student. In her free time she loves camping, going to the lake and eating Mexican food.
Stephanie Mueller- Gymnastics Instructor
Stephanie was born in St. Louis, and lived in Nashville Tennessee and Jacksonville Florida. She now calls the northland home. Stephanie teaches level 1 at CAA. She works with preschool through school age. She was a gymnast for 10 years, including competing at CAA for 4!
She is currently a sophomore at St. Louis University and interns at a local law firm. Stephanie volunteers weekly at the Harvesters Food Bank. Stephanie’s favorite food is toasted raviolis. Her favorite part about working at CAA is the great coworkers and kids.
Niesha Tardie- Dance Instructor
Niesha has been with CAA since she was only 3 years old! She danced for 15 years before deciding to share her talents with other aspiring dancers. She has studied dance with Wade Robson and Mandy Moore. Niesha graduated in 2004 from Winnetonka in the top 10% of her class, where she was on the pom squad for 3 years. She was Captain of the UMKC Dance team for 2 years. She was the 2011 KC Command Dance Team Captain and was seleted to perform at Arena Bowl 2011, in Phoenix AZ.
Niesha graduated from UMKC with a Bachelors degree in business administration. She is currently a Disability Claims Analyst for Assurant Employee Benefits. In her free time she enjoys shopping, going to concerts, and working out.
Lindsay Ramirez- Dance Instructor
Lindsay teaches Ballet and Lyrical classes at CAA. She has danced since she was 3. She has competed all over the country from the ages of 9-13. She has danced Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Lyrical, Musical Theater and Modern.
Lindsay was born and raised in Kansas City and has one sister. Lindsay says, "I love the students and their families. And the staff is my favorite! They are all amazing!" In her free time she likes to do anything as long as she has her dog Chuck!
Macayla Witt- Dance Instructor
Macayla or Mac for short, is a dance assistant and has been involved with our summer camps. Mac has been dancing for 10 years and competing for 4. She has dance in her blood. Her grandparents and dad were competitive dancers. She has a dog named Lady. Mac loves chicken and spending time with friends and family. She loves CAA for the amazing staff and friends.
Diane Bruce- Office Staff
Diane has been working in the CAA office since 2006. She enjoys the opportunity to work with all the students and their parents. She enjoys working with the terrific staff too. She and her husband, Carl, have two children and three grandchildren. Diane grew up in New Jersey and moved to Missouri in 1984. She now resides in Liberty. In her free time she loves to travel, read, and spend time with her grandchildren!
Pat Limbaugh- Office Staff
Pat has been working in the CAA office since 2009. She also helps out at our preschool whenever needed. She has 4 daughters and 7 grandchildren. In her free time she likes to read and spend time with friends and family. The kids and the staff who feel like family are her favorite things about working at CAA!
