Students present reports on historic American figures

Lindsey-Steiner Elementary School's gifted and talented social studies class put on the Night of the Notables on Monday in which students researched and presented historic American figures.

The Night of Notables is an event comprised of student presentations on the figures they researched, giving students to show the community what they've learned and an opportunity to speak in front of the public.

Costumes and display boards were used by students to complement their presentations.

Jillian Holbert: Portales News-Tribune

Nichole Washburn presents information on Clara Barton, an American nurse who went on to be the president of the American branch of the Red Cross.

According to Katrina Prince, the social studies teacher for the gifted program at Lindsey-Steiner, the students have been working on Night of the Notables for nine weeks.

Karabella Finley portrayed Nellie Bly, a reporter and investigator who exposed bad conditions in sweatshops and the maltreatment of women in jail.

According to Finley, Bly went undercover in an insane asylum for 10 days to uncover the mistreatment of patients so Finley decided to dress up in Bly's insane asylum clothing rather than her everyday wear.

Jillian Holbert: Portales News-Tribune

Karabella Finley works on her project for Night of the Notables, an event hosted by Lindsey-Steiner in which students prepare a presentation on notable historic American figures. Finley researched Nellie Bly, a reporter and women's rights activist from the 19th century.

"She did a lot of crazy things that could have gotten her hurt or arrested, but she did it to help people and I think that's awesome," said Finley.

Nichole Washburn had originally researched Florence Nightingale for her project but after finding out that Nightingale was Italian, switched over to Clara Barton, an American nurse who helped establish the Red Cross in the United States.

Washburn said that Barton was a Union supporter during the Civil War and escorted wounded soldiers back to Washington D.C., eventually becoming the president of the American branch of the Red Cross.

"Hard times aren't when you need to cower and hide, it's when people need you the most," said Washburn. "She was an excellent woman who had enough achievements to fill several lifetimes."

Jillian Holbert: Portales News-Tribune

Parker Yi explains how Thomas Edison invented the motion picture camera. According to Yi, the movie was projected inside the box so only one person could watch it at a time.

Washburn enlisted the help of her grandmother to make a wine red, Victorian-style dress for her costume. According to Washburn, the boning of her corset took days to accomplish.

Her grandmother also did-up Washburn's hair in intricate braids to resemble Barton's hairstyle.

Parker Yi decided to do his project on Thomas Edison and drew inspiration from the fact that Edison invented things as a child, something Yi relates to as a novice builder.

Yi found it impressive that Edison only had three months of formal education and patented more than 1,000 inventions. Yi chose Edison because he wanted to research someone who explored new ways of looking at the world.

According to Yi, Edison invented the phonograph, the motion picture camera and the mimeograph, a smaller version of the printing press.

"He seemed like a wise, persevering kind of person," said Yi. "He failed more than 10,000 times just on the light bulb, but he still worked on it until he succeeded."