Slippery Rock University senior and Cranberry Township resident Rebecca deGraaf, 22, was one of five students selected to participate in the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh's Music Maker sessions. DeGraaf, along with another college student, led two of the sessions.

The alligator on the bus goes snap, snap, snap, said Slippery Rock University senior Rebecca deGraaf.

“It might seem silly, but to the child that makes sense. It's really important to validate what they're saying,” said deGraaf, 22, of Cranberry Township. “Through the alligator experience, it reminded me how important it is to help the child feel like they have something worth listening to and worth saying. Going along with it and making music out of it reminded me how much not only the child but the rest of kids appreciate it.”

DeGraaf, a music therapy major who plays the flute, was one of the five college students who participated last fall in the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh's Music Maker program in collaboration with Slippery Rock University. The program seeks to enrich the lives of children and provide developmental support for them through music.

This is an excerpt from a story that appears in Friday's Butler Eagle.