Maria Kidder showed she could do it.

She developed a performance highlighting the advertising in World War II mobilizing women into the workforce and turned it into a trip to a national competition.

Her efforts earned a second place award in the Junior Individual Performance category at the Washington state History Day competition, which advances her to nationals at the University of Maryland in mid-June.

Her performance is based on the fictional character Dottie and her experiences going from a housewife to working in an an airplane factory during World War II.

“I’ve always been interested in World War II and I thought this would be a fun character and it fit my personality,” Kidder, who is an eighth grade student at Coupeville Middle School, said.

She interviewed a woman who worked at Boeing during the war and also traveled to the University of Washington to research government publications and materials produced during the war.

During her performance, she uses a variety of props, among them a welder’s mask and a poster showing Rosie the Riviter with the slogan, “We Can Do It.”

Even though Kidder is the only student in Coupeville heading to the national competition, other students from Coupeville Middle and High School also placed at the state level. The state competition took place in late April at Green River Community College in Auburn. Approximately 4,000 students participated in the competition.

Alex Platt earned fourth place in Senior Individual Documentary for “Sound of Silence: Communicating Through the Silent Cinema,” and Jessica Sele earned fourth place in Senior Individual Performance for “Nothing Bothers Me: Vaudeville, Communicating Changing Roles in Society.”

Micah Johnson earned a third place award in the Senior Historical Paper category for his paper on “Communicating Cultural and Political Dissonance: the Anti-war Movement in the Vietnam Era.” Shannon Haskins’ exhibit titled “Navajo Code Talkers: the Military’s Best Defense” didn’t place at the state competition.

The state History Day competition also benefited from support from some alumni. Former participants Scott Harbour and Allison Barker helped judge the competition. Craig Platt offered a $75 award for the best law-related project and Thomas and Susan Vader offered an award for the best medical-related project.