Like many of the letters she has received from politicians, she figured Trump’s was written by someone at the White House trained to mimic the president’s writing style, such as a speechwriter. She insists that whoever wrote the letter doesn’t need a new job, maybe just a new stylebook. She hasn’t received any word from the White House about her suggested edits.<doc-sep>A retired secondary school English teacher has corrected a letter she received from US president Donald Trump and sent it back to the White House. Yvonne Mason, who lives in Atlanta and was a teacher for 17 years, said the letter would have barely passed and corrected its numerous grammatical errors. This included 11 examples of incorrect capitalisation of words such as “president” and “state”. “If it had been written in middle school, I’d give it a C or C-plus. If it had been written in high school, I’d give it a D,” Ms Mason told South Carolina’s Greenville News. She chose not to attach a grade to the corrected letter, which included Mr Trump’s signature, and posted back to the White House. Ms Mason argued the note – which was a reply to a note she had written about the Valentine’s Day school shooting in Florida which left 17 dead – was “stylistically appalling”. She acknowledged the letter was likely to have been penned by a staff member rather than the president himself. “When you get letters from the highest level of government, you expect them to be at least mechanically correct,” she said. The teacher, who taught English at Hughes Middle School and Mauldin High School in Greenville for almost two decades before retiring last year, compared the billionaire property developer’s letter to those sent by the state’s Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. She said: “Lindsey Graham, or his people, writes exquisite letters. I give him credit for that. They are far more on-topic. I understand the nature of form letters, but Graham’s are written as if they’re addressing your particular concern.” World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut.<doc-sep>(CNN) — A teacher in Georgia responded the only way she knew how after receiving a letter from President Donald Trump filled with grammar mistakes: covering the paper with ink and yellow highlighted corrections. Yvonne Mason, a teacher in Atlanta took a picture of a letter Trump sent her regarding school safety and gun violence and posted it on Facebook – marking it up as if it were a student’s work. “Have y’all tried grammar and style check?” Mason wrote on the top of the page, which was filled with notes written in purple ink and yellow highlighter by the teacher. Mason also circled the “N” in “Nation” twice on the page writing first, “not part of proper noun construction,” and then on the second instance: “OMG this is WRONG!” The White House did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment. The Greenville News first reported Mason’s response to the letter. The New York Times reported that Mason is a Democrat and former high school English teacher who retired last year and wrote to the President asking him to visit each family of those who died in the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that took 17 lives. The President has often received criticism for misspelling and syntax errors, particularly on Twitter. Earlier this month, Trump welcomed home his wife and first lady Melania Trump home from the hospital and initially referred to her as “Melanie” before deleting and correcting the tweet about five minutes later. CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect the Greenville News first reported Mason’s response to the letter.<doc-sep>
Image 1 of 3 ▼ An Atlanta woman who wrote a letter to President Trump was shocked when she received a response. Yvonne Mason said it had the White House seal at the top and President Donald Trump's signature at the bottom. Mason said she was also stunned when she saw numerous grammatical errors. Mason is a retired English teacher. She said she didn't think twice about grabbing her highlighter and correcting the mistakes. "The thing that got me most was the capitalization. Just random capitalization. If spell check and Microsoft Word wants to correct you, you should let it," said Mason. The letter was in response to correspondence Mason sent to President Trump after the school shootings in Parkland, Florida. Mason wanted the President to pay a visit to the families of the victims. Mason said she doesn't believe President Trump actually wrote the letter; she assumed it was a form letter sent by a staff member. She said that's no excuse for grammar gaffes. "It is official correspondence from the highest office in the United States and I think it should be better. I think the people who work for him could have done a better job," said Mason. Mason mailed the letter back to the White House with the corrections, but not before she posted a photo of it on her Facebook page. Thousands of people commented on her post. Some people supported her passion for the written word, others were quite critical. "They were very personal, vitriolic, caustic. Some comments I've gotten about me being a liberal, a Democrat, about my personal appearance, that I'm a ‘snowflake.’ You're the one's whining about the letter!" said Mason. Mason said while she is not a supporter of President Trump, she still would have critiqued the letter if a Democrat was in the White House. “I believe deep in my heart I would have, and again, I would have said you are not serving your administration well by continuing to send this kind of correspondence," said Mason.