[UGAalum94]

I really think that people overestimate the potential repercussions of approaching teachers directly about anything. Most of us are not so thin-skinned that we're going to hold someone asking us about something against them or their kid.

On the other hand, it's hard not to be irritated by someone going over your head about something that should really be your decision. Good principals don't play that anyway.

With the essay contest deal, trying to give clear guidelines for how something will be graded is always important. It seems to me that if the point of requiring the essay was to enter the contest, the grade should have come from the contest guidelines, so it shouldn't be that far off the mark. I will say though, I don't know who judged the particular contest and sometimes, it's not English teachers [ETA: I don't mean to second guess what was posted. I can see now you said it was English teachers. I believe you.]

I've seen winning essays for local stuff that were pretty much internet forward glurge, when what I'd expect from an advanced student would be better than that. Of course, I'm not claiming that's the case here. I'm just saying that many English teachers would give Hallmark bad marks for being trite, and yet, that junk sells like hotcakes.