because the proud young muslim boy who built it almost wound up in jail. instead, he's headed to the white house at the invitation of the president. here's mark strassmann. >> i made it to impress my teachers. >> reporter: on monday ahmed mohamed brought to school this homemade digital clock, a circuit board wedged inside a pencil case. he showed it to his engineering teacher but told us it was his english teacher who got alarmed when the clock beeped inside his backpack during class. >> i brought the clock to my teacher and i showed it to her after class and i plucked it in and showed it to her that it was a working clock and she told me it looked like a bomb. >> reporter: he was arrested for building a hoax bomb. >> i felt like i was a criminal. i was profiled as a terrorist. >> reporter: he was fingerprintd and taken to juvenile detention. school district spokesperson lesley weaver. >> we were doing everything with an abundance of caution to protect all of our students in