Marshall Middle School sixth graders Kelsey Cowden, Maria Jose and Hailey Tallam took a photo with members of the Marshall noon Rotary club at Wednesday’s award ceremony for the winners of the Four-Way Test essay contest. Cowden won third place, Jose won second place, and Tallam won first place in the contest.

MARSHALL — There was an atmosphere of excitement as sixth-grade students gathered in the Marshall Middle School auditorium on Wednesday. Everyone was waiting to hear who the winners of this year’s Rotary Four-Way Test essay contest would be.

“We were excited to pick some winners, and this was not easy,” Marshall Public Schools Superintendent and Rotary member Jeremy Williams told students. “It’s not like there was just one or two good essays, there were a lot of good essays to pick from.”

One by one, Williams announced the names of Kelsey Cowden, Maria Jose and Hailey Tallam as the third place, second place and first place winners of the contest.

Classmates cheered for each of the winners, as Williams shook their hands and presented them each with a certificate and a cash prize. As the grand prize winner, Tallam was also invited to visit an upcoming meeting of the Marshall noon Rotary, Williams said.

The essay contest is an annual event organized by Marshall Rotarians. Kids are asked to write about how the Rotary’s Four-Way Test applies to their own lives.

“That’s something that the Rotary group uses every day,” Williams explained. “Every time we meet, we recite this Four-Way Test. We think about, how does this apply to what we’re doing in our community?”

The test has four questions Rotary members apply to the things they say or do, club members said. Those questions are: “Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Is it beneficial to all concerned?”

“Those are good things to think about every day in the classroom, or when you’re going through your school day,” Williams told students. “That’s what you wrote essays about. And you had some really good things you wrote about in those essays.”

In addition to recognizing this year’s top three essay writers, Wednesday’s awards ceremony also called up students for classroom awards from MMS language arts teachers.