Pentucket’s New Winter Pep Band Spreads Green and White Spirit
WEST NEWBURY — A new music group at Pentucket Regional High School is spreading school spirit at winter sports games.
For the first year, Pentucket has organized a Winter Pep Band, which performs at the school’s home girl’s and boy’s basketball games. The band is modeled after collegiate pep bands, and is made up of a group of four core students: Adam Cahalane, a senior of Merrimac who plays the drums; Ethan Paszko, a senior of Merrimac who plays bass; Quinn McCarron, a junior of West Newbury who plays saxophone; and Brandon Berube, a senior of Merrimac who plays trombone.
A handful of other students also participate as their schedules allow. The band is open to all students in grades nine through 12, and includes bass and drum players, along with a combination of flutes, clarinets, saxophones, trumpets and trombones.
The group is guided by Pentucket Director of Jazz David Schumacher. Schumacher was inspired to organize the group after the district participated in Boston University’s Band Day last school year, during which students had an opportunity to play alongside the BU Pep Band at a BU men’s basketball game.
“I’m always looking for new ways to provide valuable experiences for our students,” Schumacher said. “The students had a great time and I thought that energy would be a great show of support for our own basketball games.”
The Winter Pep Band has performed songs this winter including “Seven Nation Army” by the White Stripes, “Chameleon” by Herbie Hancock and “We Will Rock You” by Queen.