The SeCret LIFe oF BeeS

2o11-12
family fun at krannert center
Try a nighttime show with fun for everyone!
Moscow Festival Ballet
January 24-25: Swan Lake
January 26: Sleeping Beauty
Tickets: $39 / Youth 18 and under $10 / Seniors $34
Get tickets at 217.333.6280 or visit KrannertCenter.com.
The American Place Theatre’s Literature to Life Stage Presentation of
The SeCret LIFe oF BeeS
By Sue Monk Kidd • Performed by Denise Wilbanks • Adapted and directed by Wynn Handman
Krannert Center
500 S. Goodwin Ave.
Urbana, IL 61801
KrannertCenter.com
217.333.6700
youth.KrannertCenter.com

the Feel
oF tHe wInD
A book comes to life when
Lily Melissa Owens steps
onstage with a knot in her
stomach to recount her life in
South Carolina in 1964. Just
14, she decides to follow her
instincts, her heart, and a
mysterious photograph on an
adventure. Like the bees that
swarm around her room at
night and up in the southern
sky, she wants to fly free in
the world just to get the feel
of the wind.
tell It
lIKe it IS
Lily grabs onto a few key
phrases to help her cope
and make her strong:
Knot in my stomach
We are enough
I will not bow down
My jar is open
Write a poem that captures the
spirit of one of these lines—but
use your own experiences. What
puts a knot in your stomach or
a lump in your throat? How do
you remind yourself that you’re
capable even when someone
says you aren’t? What makes you
feel ready to fly?

whAt woulD You Do?
Would you have guessed that African American women would be
raising bees and selling honey in the 1964 South? August Boatwright
and her real-life maverick counterparts across time—Susan B.
Anthony, Jackie Robinson, Marie Curie, Mahatma Gandhi—did not
accept what others expected of them and instead set off on their
own paths.
Imagine that you live in Lily’s small South Carolina town
in 1964 and have heard about Rosaleen’s encounter with
the three men by the gas station. Create a character
for yourself. Who are you and what do you think about
the Civil Rights Act and race relations? Is your character
in favor of African Americans having the right to vote?
What did Rosaleen accomplish by drizzling tobacco spit
on the men’s shoes? Did the police handle the situation
well? Write a letter expressing your opinion to the
editor of the local newspaper.
Now you choose yours: teacher, entrepreneur, composer, beekeeper,
or whatever profession suits you. Find out who broke barriers of
race, gender, age, or class in being the first or being the best. See
where you fit in. What obstacles might you face or clear in 15 years?
Write a few paragraphs about your imagined experiences.

waggle dance and a tremble dance? What foods wouldn’t we
have without bees?
You may have admired
the glow of a
beeswax candle,
marveled
at a bee’s
bobbing
flight to
a blossom, or even
savored a squeeze
straight out of a little plastic honey bear,
but how much do you know about the lives
of these buzzing honey makers? Create your
own Top Secret bee card game to test and
expand your knowledge.
Head to the library, go online, or talk to a local beekeeper and
gather as many secrets as you can. How many flowers must a
band of bees visit to make one pound of honey? What’s the
secret password to the hive? How many wings does a honeybee
have? What’s royal jelly? What’s the difference between a
Once you and your classmates have uncovered the deepest
secrets about bees, fill in the question cards (with answers!) to
create a class deck. For this game, you don’t have to stick to
simple oral responses—challenge your classmates to draw a bee
and label the three main body parts or model the shape of a
honeycomb cell with clay.
how to PlAY:
You’ll need one deck of regular playing cards, your new deck
of amazing and little-known bee secrets, and drawing paper or
modeling clay (if you’re daring with your questions).
Top Secret uses the same basic rules as the classic card game
War, but winning a round has an added twist. The player with
the low card draws a Top Secret card and poses its question.
The player with the high card must accurately answer it to win
the round. If the answer is incorrect, the cards remain on the
table and will be won by the next player to correctly answer a
question.
Now how much do you know about bees?

the Mother
InSIDe You
In The Secret Life of Bees, August tells Lily that she needs to
find the mother inside of her so that she can stand up to her
father’s meanness. Lily draws on the strength of the Black
Mary—another mother—to cope and gain courage. At this
time in her life, Lily associates certain traits with mothers
and others with fathers. Think about the mothers and
fathers you know or have read about. What skills or qualities
do you think mothers have and teach to their children? How
about fathers? Create a collage of images that represent
motherhood and fatherhood to you. Present your finished
creations to the class and be prepared to explain your
choices. Do you think there are certain areas where mothers
excel but fathers lag? In your view, do fathers attend to
some things better than mothers do? Are they alike in all
ways that matter?

we ShAll overCoMe
The Jim Crow era of the United States was rife with
regulations segregating or otherwise discriminating against
African Americans. Other instances of social injustice, like
the Trail of Tears, the internment of Japanese Americans
in the United States during World War II, the Holocaust,
the struggle for women’s suffrage, and apartheid,
rested on legislated intolerance. Select a topic and trace
government and legal actions by constructing a timeline.
Compare those actions to local, state, or national Jim Crow
legislation. What are the defining principles at work in
both? What motivations or goals are in play? Write a few
paragraphs of analysis.