IN THE CLASSROOM:

Jack Maurer sits at his laptop and pounds out an invoice.

He has to keep track of his budget, as well as his own cash flow, before he turns to other business, such as writing a letter to Apple and going over a response from Nike.

Later, he has a meeting during recess with some peers on the blacktop.

In Marc Africano’s sixth-grade classroom at Newport Heights Elementary School, the children aren’t just learning math, English and science — they’re learning job skills for the future.

“He runs this class like a job,” 12-year-old Maurer said. “It’s not always fair, maybe, but we learn about what’s going on in the world.”

The class has been writing persuasive letters to companies asking for donations to the class for their end-of-the-year auction.

They got a signed letter from Tiger Woods, hats and wristbands from Nike, and Hurley is making them something special.

Africano is a fan of Tiger Woods and talked to his students about Woods’ psychological edge.

Woods wears a red polo shirt and black pants on Sundays when he is going for victory.

When the students wrote to Hurley, the company made a special offer the class couldn’t turn down — 30 red polos for the children to wear for STAR testing this week.

And while the testing will measure how they grasp grammar, how well they can remember their history lesson and their reading comprehension, what it will be missing is the children’s ability to use tools that are common in the workforce.

“We are so far advanced,” 12-year-old Jagger Raimondo said. “It’s cool how this class works.”

Using mini-laptops geared for younger children in the classroom, Africano has taught the children to use Microsoft Excel, Word and PowerPoint.

They each have jobs in the classroom that represent real-life jobs and they earn paychecks that go toward what they can bid on in their end-of-the-year auction.

They have learned what persuasive writing is and how 12-year-old children can reach even the mightiest of companies.

“It’s paying off,” Africano said.

Even in rejection letters, such as one from Apple a student read aloud with pride, the students are finding confidence in their abilities.

“In this program, I really found out a letter is a powerful thing,” Maurer said.

DANIEL TEDFORD may be reached at (714) 966-4632 or at daniel.tedford@latimes.com.