Lincoln teacher honored for teaching Spanish to kids

Rocio Jacoby, a Spanish teacher at Lincoln Elementary School in Oak Park, was named the 2026 Teacher of the Year by the Illinois Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ICTFL). Jacoby received the award on Oct. 8, at the organization’s Fall Conference Awards Ceremony and will go on to compete for a regional teacher of the year award through the Central States region later this year. “I feel honored,” Jacoby told Wednesday Journal. “Honestly at the beginning it felt like a dream.” Jacoby has taught Spanish at Lincoln School since 2008 and has worked for Oak Park Elementary School District 97 since 2003. She teaches Spanish to kindergarteners through fifth graders at Lincoln, 1111 S. Grove Ave., as part of D97’s World Language in Elementary Schools program which teaches Spanish to all elementary school students in D97. Jacoby said she was particularly thrilled to receive the award because she teaches a foreign language to elementary school students. “I feel like thi