Speech senior Melanie Sanzone has spent the past four years teaching gymnastics to about 170 children per week as a work-study employee at Evanston’s Chandler-Newberger Community Center.

Her dedication to the center at 1028 Central St. is matched only by her commitment to school — when she won the Work-Study Employee of the Year award Wednesday, she couldn’t make the reception because she didn’t want to skip class.

Sanzone said her boss called her after the reception was over and told her that she had won.

“I started thinking about where I should hang the plaque,” she joked.

“I like being around kids, people who are not of college age,” she said. “They have such great imaginations.”

Sanzone’s adviser at Chandler-Newberger, Michelle Leaven, praised Sanzone’s ability to relate to children of different age groups and her ability to work without constant oversight.

“She’s very perceptive — she sees what needs to be done and takes the initiative without any prodding from me,” Leaven said. “If I give her a project, I know it’s going to get done and get done correctly.”

The award was given annually until 1985, after which it was discontinued for several years. The tradition was resumed last year, with 11 students being nominated for the award. This year, 21 out of 1,900 work-study employees were nominated on behalf of the National Student Employment Association.

Anne Horne, the work-study coordinator for financial aid, said the award was brought back to honor hard-working students.

“It’s amazing what these students do,” she said. “They don’t do typical jobs like security monitoring or working in the library. They’re doing unbelievable research and dealing with kids.”

First runner-up Mischa Gaus, a Medill senior and former Daily reporter, said he was surprised he was nominated.

Gaus is a tutor at Chicago’s Jordan Community School, 7414 N.Walcott, and has been working there for three years. His letter of recommendation, which was read aloud at the reception, emphasized his invaluable assistance in helping students at the school with their writing.

“One of the best things about it is the interaction you have with children,” Gaus said. “It’s always a one-on-one interaction, and you really get to see the impact you make on them.”

Second runner-up Chantal Laparl-Green, an Education senior, has worked for three years as a community service aide at the McGaw YMCA, 1000 Grove St., an after-school tutoring program. She helps elementary-school children with their schoolwork.

“I really like being with the kids, helping them out with their homework and their life crises,” she said. “I also really like my boss. She’s really helped me to grow a lot, not just professionally, but as a person too.”

All students were rewarded with a gift certificate and a key chain for their reliability, quality of work and the uniqueness of their contributions to their jobs.

In addition to community-service aides, students nominated for the award included Web site managers, research assistants in the biology and psychology departments, office assistants and clerical aides.

The nominees’ supervisors wrote letters recommending their employees for the position. The winner and runners-up were determined by a panel of five judges.