PAGE 4 NEWS GINW French class spreads the Mardi Gras … · MGNO is “On March 2, ... Purple...
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Mardi Gras, according to French teacher Melanie Haith, “Is French for ‘Fat Tuesday’, and is celebrated in the weeks leading up to Ash Wednesday when Lent starts.” It is one of the most popular celebrations in New Orleans. With the first Mardi Gras parade “in New Orleans on Feb. 24, 1857 by the Krewe of Comus. They began the tradition of presenting a parade with floats and following it with a ball for the krewe and their guests,” stated the website Mardi Gras New Orleans (MGNO). In French class, Haith has the students participate in their own little Mardi Gras celebration. A little history from MGNO is “On March 2, 1699, French-Canadian explorer Jean Baptiste Le Moyne Sieur de Bienville arrived at a plot of ground 60 miles directly south of New Orleans, and named it ‘Pointe du Mardi Gras’ when his men realized it was the eve of the festive holiday,” “New Orleans was established in 1718 by Bienville. By the 1730s, Mardi Gras was celebrated openly in New Orleans, but not with the parades we know today. In the early 1740s, Louisiana’s governor, the Marquis de Vaudreuil, established elegant society balls, which became the model for the New Orleans Mardi Gras balls of today,” is also included in a bit of history from the Mardi Gras New Orleans website. The students in Haith’s French class partook in activities similar to the extravagant ones in New Orleans. “It’s fun to get to take a little time out of the ‘book learning’ for cultural celebrations,” says Haith. She also stated, “Since masks are a huge part of Mardi Gras celebrations, we take some time to design and make our own Mardi Gras masks in class. I’m always impressed with the creativity of my students.” The first thing the students did was decorate masks. According to MGNO, “By law, float riders must always have a mask on. On Fat Tuesday, masking is legal for everyone else, and the elaborate masks that some wear, add to the fun.” On the floats, “throws” are tossed. In Haith’s class, they also did activities that had them earn “throws”.These “throws” date back to the 1870s. Some of the items thrown from floats are beads, cups, doubloons, and stuffed animals. “On the actual Mardi Gras [the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday], we eat the traditional King Cake in French class and play some Mardi Gras games,” mentioned Haith. The color choice was decided by “Rex, the King of Carnival,” and assigned meaning to them. Purple stands for justice, green for faith, and gold for power. The colors to this day are still the same. “The King of Carnival” can be chosen variously from krewe to krewe. MGNO stated, “Some krewes hold random drawings, while others invite a celebrity guest to be their king. Rex, the King of Carnival, is chosen by the School of Design, who sponsors the Rex parade. His identity is revealed the day before the parade.” Mardi Gras royalty were announced for French class. They were: Reiley Hillman and Chris Brown in French 1-2 and Lauren Knox and Elliot Kosmicki in French 3-4. Some might assume that an extravagant party like Mardi Gras must cost the town fortunes, but actually, “Mardi Gras parade krewes are private, non-profit organizations whose members get together year round to plan their parade’s theme, costumes and unique throws,” stated MGNO. This means each Carnival Club, as they are known, is individually funded by its members.They also support their krewe through dues, sales of krewe-related merchandise to their members, and fundraising. Mardi Gras parade krewes sometimes have corporate sponsors. The city of New Orleans is not involved in coordinating Mardi Gras parades; their only involvement is to issue parade permits to each individual Mardi Gras krewe that schedules and coordinates its own parade. Mardi Gras is a fun time of year to binge on King Cakes, and celebrate before the holy holidays including Ash Wednesday and Easter. The celebration has such a reputation for fun that people from all over go to New Orleans to celebrate. Mardi Gras is a celebration for eons to come, with Americans partaking in a little bit of the French culture. PAGE 4 NEWS GINW French class spreads the Mardi Gras Spirit Reiley Hillman Staff Writer Sophomore Chance Boersen smiles at classmates, excited to be celebrating Mardi Gras. Junior Emily Earl impatiently waits to put on Mardi Gras temporary tattoo. Photo by Jennifer Clement Junior Sheldon Means plays a game, throwing plastic coins into colored bead rings. Photo by Austin FrAnsisco French 1-2 pose with their masks for a group photo, to end a memorable Mardi Gras. First row Austin Fransisco, Kendra Peyton, Deanna Montanez-Mendoza, Sophia Carlson, Dakota Martin, Second row: Alana Wedige, Reiley Hillman, Mallory Beckmann, Sheldon Means, Macey Kroger, Bre Dobesh, Emily Earl, Camry Fye, CeAnna Owens Third row: Chance Boersen, Chris Brown. Photo by JenniFer clement
Transcript of PAGE 4 NEWS GINW French class spreads the Mardi Gras … · MGNO is “On March 2, ... Purple...
Mardi Gras, according to French teacher Melanie Haith, “Is French for ‘Fat Tuesday’, and is celebrated in the weeks leading up to Ash Wednesday when Lent starts.” It is one of the most popular celebrations in New Orleans. With the first Mardi Gras parade “in New Orleans on Feb. 24, 1857 by the Krewe of Comus. They began the tradition of presenting a parade with floats and following it with a ball for the krewe and their guests,” stated the website Mardi Gras New Orleans (MGNO). In French class, Haith has the students participate in their own little Mardi Gras celebration. A little history from MGNO is “On March 2, 1699, French-Canadian explorer Jean Baptiste Le Moyne Sieur de Bienville arrived at a plot of ground 60 miles directly south of New Orleans, and named it ‘Pointe du Mardi Gras’ when his men realized it was the eve of the festive holiday,” “New Orleans was established in 1718 by Bienville. By the 1730s, Mardi Gras was celebrated openly in New Orleans, but not with the parades we know today. In the early 1740s, Louisiana’s governor, the Marquis de Vaudreuil,
established elegant society balls, which became the model for the New Orleans Mardi Gras balls of today,” is also included in a bit of history from the Mardi Gras New Orleans website. The students in Haith’s French class partook in activities similar to the extravagant ones in New Orleans. “It’s fun to get to take a little time out of the ‘book learning’ for cultural celebrations,” says Haith. She also stated, “Since masks are a huge part of Mardi Gras celebrations, we take some time to design and make our own Mardi Gras masks in class. I’m always impressed with the creativity of my students.” The first thing the students did was decorate masks. According to MGNO, “By law, float riders must always have a mask on. On Fat Tuesday, masking is legal for everyone else, and the elaborate masks that some wear, add to the fun.” On the floats, “throws” are tossed. In Haith’s class, they also did activities that had them earn “throws”. These “throws” date back to the 1870s. Some of the items thrown from floats are beads, cups, doubloons, and stuffed animals. “On the actual Mardi Gras [the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday], we eat the traditional King Cake in French class and play some Mardi Gras games,” mentioned Haith. The color choice was decided by “Rex, the King of Carnival,” and assigned meaning to them. Purple stands for justice, green for faith, and gold for power. The colors to this day are still the same. “The King of Carnival” can be chosen variously from krewe to krewe. MGNO stated, “Some krewes hold random drawings, while others invite a celebrity guest to be their king. Rex, the King of Carnival, is chosen by the School of Design, who sponsors the Rex parade. His identity is revealed the day before the parade.” Mardi Gras royalty were announced for French class. They were: Reiley Hillman and Chris Brown in French 1-2 and Lauren Knox and Elliot Kosmicki in French 3-4.
Some might assume that an extravagant party like Mardi Gras must cost the town fortunes, but actually, “Mardi Gras parade krewes are private, non-profit organizations whose members get together year round to plan their parade’s theme, costumes and unique throws,” stated MGNO. This means each Carnival Club, as they are known, is individually funded by its members. They also support their krewe through dues, sales of krewe-related merchandise to their members, and fundraising. Mardi Gras parade krewes sometimes have corporate sponsors. The city of New Orleans is not involved in coordinating Mardi Gras parades; their only involvement is to issue parade permits to each individual Mardi Gras krewe that schedules and coordinates its own parade. Mardi Gras is a fun time of year to binge on King Cakes, and celebrate before the holy holidays including Ash Wednesday and Easter. The celebration has such a reputation for fun that people from all over go to New Orleans to celebrate. Mardi Gras is a celebration for eons to come, with Americans partaking in a little bit of the French culture.
PAGE 4 NEWS
GINW French class spreads the Mardi Gras Spirit Reiley Hillman
Staff Writer
Sophomore Chance Boersen smiles at classmates, excited to be celebrating Mardi Gras. Junior Emily Earl impatiently waits to put on Mardi Gras temporary tattoo. Photo by Jennifer Clement
Junior Sheldon Means plays a game, throwing plastic coins into colored bead rings. Photo by Austin FrAnsisco
French 1-2 pose with their masks for a group photo, to end a memorable Mardi Gras. First row Austin Fransisco, Kendra Peyton, Deanna Montanez-Mendoza, Sophia Carlson, Dakota Martin, Second row: Alana Wedige, Reiley Hillman, Mallory Beckmann, Sheldon Means, Macey Kroger, Bre Dobesh, Emily Earl, Camry Fye, CeAnna Owens Third row: Chance Boersen, Chris Brown. Photo by JenniFer clement
