Whiz Kid: Hilary Gelfond

Whiz Kid's Age: 17

Whiz Kid's School: Junior at

Whiz Kid's Accomplishment: Created a time capsule of Thomas Wootton High School history and current culture for the school's .

Whiz Kid's Key to Awesomeness: After brainstorming with teachers and Wootton alumni during the summer, Hilary Gelfond, a North Potomac resident, decided to honor by creating a time capsule.

Through weekly meetings with her fellow Patriot Ambassadors, Gelfond, who is also a year-round runner, organized several categories of contents for the capsule. She involved the entire school by asking homerooms to write letters about the "secret life of Wootton."

Students contributed hundreds of letters on everything from current trends to predictions about the future. Gelfond sorted through each letter to choose a selection to place in the capsule.

She assigned several groups of students to cover different topics, such as music, technology and style.

"I really liked that it was a way of connecting students now with students in the future," Gelfond said.

Gelfond wrote a letter addressed to the "Future Wootton Community," in which she describes Wootton history and calls on students to carry on the capsule tradition in the future.

"It is always refreshing to stop and look back at where you came from. It adds a new sense of meaning to the life you live," Gelfond wrote in the letter. "Let's create a new tradition. After viewing this time capsule, please consider adding new materials or creating your own. You will be able to give future generations of Wootton students the same thrill you had when discovering this one. If you need assistance, please look me up. I would be honored to help with the planning of Wootton's next anniversary or the creation of the next time capsule."

Sue Thorpe, the teacher sponsor of Patriot Ambassadors who oversaw the project, said she was impressed with Gelfond's consistent hard work over more than six months.

"She embraced the spirit of the event and could see the historical relevance," Thorpe said. "She had a vision and followed it through."

Gelfond plans to close the capsule this spring.