DENHAM SPRINGS - Denham Springs High School is looking for donations of Mardi Gras beads for the special education department.

Special education teachers Victoria Vice and Kemberly Corbitt say the initiative has grown a lot since its start three years ago. With Mardi Gras season being the busiest time for them, they now have more orders than donations.

"We sort the beads, put them up, re-sort and re-sell them back out into the community. For all the different parades, not just Mardi Gras. We have about 20 orders now that need to be filled that we don't have enough beads for," Vice said.

More than 50 special needs students who attend Denham Springs High and Freshmen High. The department takes donations year-round to make sure they have what they need for the students.

"Anything the department needs that we can't get funding for, this is what pays for it. They're literally earning things for themselves," Corbitt said.

The donations also help fund their prom. Last year, the department was able to use the money raised for a party bus.

"We can get things like makeup done for the girls. Manicures, pedicures. If we're short on tuxedos, we can get tuxedos for boys. Basically, anything you would need for prom, we can provide," Corbitt said.

Both teachers say the students are learning life skills by making sure orders are fulfilled.

"The students are involved in every step of it. From picking them up from our donation area in the front, sorting, packing them and giving them to customers. Our students do all of it," Corbitt said.