I am a finalist for the National Scholastic Press Association's award of Middle School Story of the Year. I wrote the nominated story while at my former private school. In 2025, I won second place for this award.

(For more context about my educational background, see /realTomBayes/will-i-regret-switching-to-public-h and /realTomBayes/am-i-screwed-read-desc )

I found out about this through a friend who still goes to that school. They did not attempt to inform me of this nomination, even though they definitely know how to contact me.

I have a bad history with this school. The heads of their administration are pathological liars who do not care about fairness in their school, and are frankly inexperienced lunatics who have committed several acts during their tenure that are borderline criminal.

If I win this award, I'm apparently supposed to receive a plaque and a cash prize. Both the plaque and the stipend must route through my school first.

Conditional on me winning the prize, will my former school attempt to contact me, or embezzle the prize money for themselves?

Resolves NO if my school attempts to contact me within a week of winning the award. (Winners announced Nov 21.) Otherwise, resolves YES. N/A if I don't receive the award.