Ella Wood, a seventh grader at Trinity School at Meadow View, won the $1,000 first place award in the Northern Virginia Rotary District’s Four-Way Test Essay Contest. 

She and her family were hosted last Saturday at the Rotary District Conference in Charlottesville by the Falls Church Rotary Club, which entered her essay in the district contest. 

The essay contest is held annually by Rotary District 7610. Each sponsoring Rotary Club holds its own essay contest to select one winning essay to qualify for the district level competition. 

Ella’s essay was judged the best of 20 essays received from local seventh and eight graders by the Falls Church Rotary Club’s essay contest judges in February and then judged the best of all the other Rotary Club’s winning essays in the district level competition.