COOS BAY - Most actors would likely attest to the time and study it takes to become a true thespian.

However, a local acting coach had only 40 minutes to instill performance skills in a group of eighth-graders who will not only act but ad-lib their performances for an annual history project on Coos Bay's waterfront.

Joe Stoffel's best tip to the Sunset Middle School students: Be confident.

"There's nothing you cannot do," Stoffel told the group of nearly 40 students. "'I can't' means 'I won't.'"

A former drama teacher and a current member of Little Theatre On the Bay's board of directors, Stoffel was called upon by the Coos Historical & Maritime Museum  to prepare the students to act out parts in front of flocks of fifth-graders for the Kids at the Museum program this month.

"In terms of the project, they have to look confident because they are leaders," Stoffel said. "They're talking to these little fifth-graders and trying to give them a piece of history."

The eighth-graders will don caps, aprons, high-necked blouses and other costumes to better transform themselves into cheesemakers, iron workers, firefighters, taxi boat captains and other characters of Front Street in the early 20th century. They and museum staff members will give the younger students a guided walking tour through local history and the street's place in Old Marshfield.

Front Street served as Coos Bay's main thoroughfare and center of commerce until a fire destroyed it in 1922. Intended for all fifth-graders in Coos County and Reedsport, the program focuses on how economy and transportation are related to resources and the way people interact with their landscape.

"It teaches students that history is not just a bunch of stuff in cases. It's actually a whole way of thinking about the world," said Jon Guss, an Americorps volunteer and Schools Program Coordinator for the museum.

While the program is for fifth-graders, involving older students is another way to share the message. And, Guss added, the younger students look up to their eighth-grade peers.

"We feel like they're learning something as well, because they're able to be creative and to create these characters," Guss said.

During the crash course, Stoffel called on volunteers to try out characters they had chosen from rough descriptions provided by the museum. He reminded them that they have to think, dress and stand like the people they will portray.

"You're a cheesemaker. Do you think you'll have dirt under your fingernails?" he asked. "Learn everything you can about your character, even if you will never use it."

Stoffel added that the teens will likely be asked a lot of questions when they play their characters.

"If you don't know, make it up," Stoffel said. "When you make something up, they won't notice."

One of the stronger performers, 14-year-old Jason Sweet, took on a Southern accent as he became "Ray," a 17-year-old apprentice at the Coos Bay Iron Works. He proudly said he swept floors for his boss and fought to keep a straight face as his classmates giggled around him.

Although Stoffel and Guss weren't sure that many Southerners were living in Coos Bay around the turn of the century, they said it could be possible.

Jason said he didn't know why he chose that accent. He added that he intends to be Ray for the program.

"It's just something that came to my mind," Jason said.

The eighth-grader added he learned a bit about Coos Bay history and that's one of the reasons he decided to participate.

"I didn't really know that they started working as young as they did," Jason said.

Dillan Holman definitely winged it when it was his turn. Playing "Bill," a volunteer fireman from Marshfield Fire Station No. 1, the 13-year-old later said he wanted to learn about Coos Bay how it used to be.

"It sounds funner to act as a character instead of ... just learning it from someone else," Dillan said.

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