Mrs. Nearpass

Hi!  I am Debbie Nearpass, the music teacher at Lost Creek. I definitely live in a family of musicians.  My dad  was a band and orchestra teacher.  My husband teaches middle school band.  My son has two music degrees and is a jazz musician in Chicago and my daughter also  has a degree in music.   I grew up in Horsham, Pennsylvania, a town just northeast of Philadelphia where I learned to play the piano, clarinet and oboe and was active playing in bands, orchestras and singing in choirs.  After high school I spent 5 years studying to be a professional oboe player but eventually realized that I really enjoyed helping students find the  excitement in music that I felt.

At Lost Creek students in our music room sing, play instruments, move, dance and listen to music.  We use xylophones, rhythm sticks, drums, triangles, cymbals, woodblocks, tambourines and all kinds of other instruments.  We play with ribbons, bean bags, tennis balls, scarves, paper plates and buckets. We learn about rhythm, pitch, tempo, dynamics and form.  We learn about our history, and other cultures.  The goal of our music class is to not only learn about all kinds of music but to be more curious about the music and the world we live in.