School News & Clubs 

Turning Music into Motivation: John Jay Pep Band

By Kevin Sanchez

Edited By: Jacob Cheung

December 22, 2025

Turning music into motivation, here comes the Pep Band! The John Jay Pep Band is an after-school club made up of students in grades 9-12 that plays at Varsity Football games, serving as a key part of the football culture at John Jay.

The Pep Band’s primary role is to play cheer tunes at football games, motivating the football players to perform excellently during their games while also providing music to the crowd. During the games, the Pep Band performs short pieces of music depending on the situation happening in the field, ranging from short cheers to segments of full-length songs. The Pep Band also typically performs a full-length song during halftime as part of their performance.

Throughout the season, the Pep Band has shown significant growth in improvement. Lisa Esposito, one of the Directors of the Pep Band, commented on the group’s progress. “Pep Band has progressed well since the beginning of the year! We've learned the 'standard' pep tunes and started adding more songs!” One of the major performances the Pep Band has done during the season was at the Homecoming Game, where they had the opportunity to display new melodies, refine the older ones, and play against the rival team’s very own Pep Band.

The Pep Band is open to any band members wishing to join, and is a great way to support our Varsity Football Players! They hold rehearsals once a week from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. and are flexible with what times they meet.

Students interested in joining next year can contact Mrs. Esposito at lisa.esposito@wcsdny.org, or Mr. Banda at ryan.banda@wcsdny.org for more information.