West Hempstead High School senior Elisabeth McAvoy has many talents including art, music and writing, but it's her gift in science that has given her national recognition and has brought pride to West Hempstead High School.

McAvoy was named a semifinalist in the Intel Science Talent search. Just how prestigious is the honor? Well, McAvoy was one of 300 chosen for the semifinals out of 1,558 entrants representing 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and an overseas school.

West Hempstead director of science Tobias Daempfle has been working with McAvoy on her project, entitled "Electrochemical Management of Bryum Argentium and its Subsequent Environmental Implications."

"It's probably the Nobel Prize for high school students," said Daempfle. "She worked very hard. She worked with a couple of the teachers and myself all through the summer."

McAvoy has been working on the project since her sophomore year. Her experiments and research resulted in the discovery of an environmentally safe method of eradicating silver thread moss from golf course greens. The method kills the silver thread moss while not harming the grass or the environment. The chemicals used break down into harmless substances.

"She's hardworking and innovative. She's an all-around student, very pleasant personality," said Daempfle about McAvoy.

West Hempstead will find out if McAvoy is a finalist on Jan. 25. Of the 300 semifinalists, there will be 40 finalists who will receive an all-expense-paid trip to Washington D.C. to attend the Intel Science Talent Institute and compete for scholarships totaling more than $500,000.

By just being named a semifinalist, McAvoy earned $1,000 and $1,000 for her school and became only the second West Hempstead student and first since 1998 to receive such an honor.

"Elisabeth is an excellent and dedicated student," said a proud superintendent of schools Dr. Carol Eisenberg, who gave credit to Elisabeth, her family and Daempfle, who gave up much of his own time to help. "I think she'll go even farther. That's my prediction."

Elisabeth's mother was naturally excited about her daughter's special feat. "It's one of those things you hope will happen, but when it does, it's like 'wow.' I have my fingers crossed for her for the next round because she really did this herself and we're very proud of her," she said.

Mrs. McAvoy remembers buying toy chemistry sets and microscopes at Toys R Us when her daughter was 7 and 8 years old. "I still have them in the basement," she said.

Those sets apparently have paid off as McAvoy has propelled herself into a prestigious and select group. But science isn't her only talent. While McAvoy has a gift for science, she also has a passion for music as an All-County flute player, art and writing. "She is an all-around student and delightful," said Dr. Eisenberg. "She doesn't have that arrogance that can sometimes impede learning."

Elisabeth's parents have tried to instill in their children the need for a well-rounded education. "I honestly feel her participation in art and music over all this time has helped create this whole world that's she's in," Mrs. McAvoy said.

In the upcoming weeks, McAvoy will find out if she is a finalist but she is already a champion to the community.