I asked my children if they had EVER written to President Bush. They, resoundly, said, “No.”
They were required to write to Obama this year, though.
I remember being required to write a letter to the President in one of my classes. I think it only happened once or twice. I received a reply . Of course, I didn’t know it really wasn’t the President’s signature. I think I still have it somewhere.
It is not an uncommon thing for a student to do...but not all teachers do it.