Pearland boy is finalist for $10,000 memory championship

Pearland, TX—A Pearland fifth-grader will embark in less than three weeks on a voyage to become a national memory champion and earn a $10,000 grand prize.

Elijah Bonow, 11, of Pearland, is one of 16 finalists in the National Memory Master competition. On May 2 Elijah will compete in three rounds of academic memory testing during a five-day cruise to the Bahamas aboard the Carnival cruise ship Victory. Each of the finalists received two free tickets to the cruise and $800 in traveling money.

“I’m so honored that I was chosen as a finalist,” Elijah said. “I am excited to go on the cruise and meet the other amazing kids who will also be in the competition.”

The 16 finalists have already been through a rigorous series of local and regional competitions to reach the finals. Creativity is encouraged in the competition, and Elijah turned his presentation into a one-man drama of two boys dialoging in the backseat of a car on their way to CC.

The National Memory Master competition is hosted by Classical Conversations, a classical education resource used by homeschoolers in all 50 states and 14 foreign countries. Classical Conversations now has more than 93,000 students enrolled in its tutoring programs.

Elijah attends the Pearland/Friendswood Classical Conversations community in Pearland.  He is the son of Matthew and Tiffany Bonow and is the oldest of five children. He is finishing his fifth year as a Classical Conversations, or CC, student and has earned the Memory Master honor each of those years.

Elijah plays football and runs track for teams in Pearland. He said he enjoys all sports, reading, acting and being with his family and friends.  His family attends Antioch Community Church Houston where his father is employed as the family pastor.

In addition to the National Memory Masters competition, the first CC Capstone Cruise will also feature the third annual National Number Knockout finals and CC’s first high school commencement.

CC provides resources, guidance and a community for a home school curriculum using classical education in three developmental stages: grammar, dialectic and rhetoric, and taught from a Christian worldview, according to its founder, Leigh Bortins. She says CC supports homeschooling parents by cultivating the love of learning through a Christian worldview in fellowship with other families. She believes there are three keys to a great education: classical, Christian and community.

Started in 1997 and headquartered in West End, North Carolina, CC is a family-owned company that provides services to almost 1,900 CC communities around the world. For more information visit www.classicalconversations.com. 

Contact:John Carpenter, Communication Journalist
Classical Conversations
(423) 618-3753
jcarpenter@classicalconversations.com