At Augusta Evans Special School in west Mobile, Carnival season never really ends. Each year, thousands of pounds of used Mardi Gras beads arrive at the school, where students spend part of their day transforming the discarded throws into tens of thousands of dollars for their education program.
The beads come through a long-running donation partnership in which area doughnut shops collect strands from Mardi Gras revelers and pass them along to Augusta Evans’ work-education program. For more than a decade, the program has generated hundreds of thousands of dollars as students sort, tag and bag the beads before selling them back to local Mardi Gras mystic societies ahead of the next parade season.
This year’s haul set a new record, according to the school’s employment training teacher, who said the program sold 3,000 cases of beads to roughly 300 customers and raised $50,000, the most in the program’s history. Beads are priced by type, with standard throw beads selling by the case, designer beads commanding a higher price, and large sugar beads fetching the most per case.
The money raised funds classroom technology and other curriculum needs for the school’s work-skills program, which serves students in their final years of high school, generally between 18 and 21 years old. Many of the students face intellectual and developmental challenges, including cerebral palsy, autism and Down syndrome, and the bead-sorting work is designed to build practical, transferable job skills.
Throughout the year, students earn points for their work that can be redeemed for tokens, which in turn can be used for gift cards to area restaurants or activities during the school’s Club Fridays, including dance lessons and video games. Staff say the structure mirrors a real workplace, teaching students how to clock in and out, follow workplace behavior expectations, and complete sorting and clerical tasks accurately.
Beyond the financial and educational benefits, students also get the chance to throw the recycled beads themselves each year as participants in a local Mardi Gras parade, giving them a tangible connection to the very throws they spend months preparing.
School staff say the program remains a favorite among students despite the repetitive nature of the work, describing an enthusiasm for the task that has helped sustain the initiative for well over a decade. With this year’s donation drive already delivering pallet after pallet of beads to the school, staff say next year’s haul is shaping up to be just as strong.