Students in French teacher Margaret Beckner’s classes celebrated Mardi Gras a.k.a. Fat Tuesday; a day complete with beads, masks, King cake, and beignets.

Beckner celebrates the holiday each year with all of her French classes to teach her students cultural differences between French speaking regions.

Originally a French holiday, it has been Americanized, to include parties, elaborate costumes, and massive floats leading up to the season of Epiphany, otherwise known as Lent.

“I don’t give anything up for Lent, but my goal at school is to try to show the importance of the French holiday.  It’s important for students to know the meaning of the holiday so I try to take on something that will benefit myself or another person in hopes it will become a habit after the Lent season,” Beckner said.