- November 27, 2024
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Power Cheer owner and founder Penny Howell didn’t think Power Cheer was going to last 20 years when she opened it in 1997.
“I had no idea what I was getting into and never would have thought it would carry this long,” Howell said. “You don’t think it’s going to end, but you don’t realize it can go this long.”
Howell and Power Cheer celebrated 20 years in Port Orange as the studio opened its doors to former members for a day of remembrance. There was a fashion show outlining the group’s uniforms throughout the years, and it ended with the reveal of the team’s 2017’s uniform.
Howell’s excellence in cheerleading training is evident in the fact that she operates as the premier cheerleading entity in Volusia County, and has for two decades. She was a gymnast for 14 years and was also a cheerleader at the University of Kansas.
3% of all-star cheerleading squads make it to The Summit, which is an international cheerleading tournament. Power Cheer has attended three years in a row, including once with two different teams.
To Howell, now 47, Power Cheer’s plethora of accomplishments over the years comes second to the personal connections she has made with her students over the years. She also relishes in the fact that her 14-year-old daughter Riley wants to take over the family business one day.
She and Howell’s other daughter Jessa, 10, are cheerleaders at Power Cheer. In particular, Riley is passionate about cheerleading and Howell feels proud to be able to leave a legacy after building an excellent foundation.
“To have kids come back and know you made an impact on their life, and you’ve changed someone’s life, to me that’s why I do this,” Howell said. “This is what my oldest daughter wants to do. She wants to coach and run the gym one day, and that motivates me to keep it going.”
