Lincoln Elementary School educator Rocío Jacoby was awarded the Teacher of the Year last month by the Illinois Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
As a Spanish teacher for Oak Park’s District 97 for over 20 years, getting the statewide recognition felt “like a dream.”
“I haven’t woke up yet, but it is exciting and it’s also a great opportunity for me to continue advocating for elementary world language programs, not just in our state, but also across the nation,” Jacoby said.
She found out earlier this summer that she was nominated for the award which was followed by some paperwork and getting letters of recommendation from colleagues and students.
Marianne Rehfield, principal of Lincoln Elementary School, helped out in the process and wrote a letter of recommendation for her, but finding out that Jacoby won was no surprise to Rehfield.
She acclaimed the hard work that Jacoby does for the district and the community.
“She really continues to refine her practices to make sure that she is an engaging teacher,” Rehfield said. “This is a place where culturally responsive teaching is important, and she is incorporating that into her learning environment.”
Originally from Peru, she’s a native Spanish teacher but became a world language teacher of French and English there before moving to the U.S. in 2000.
Learning a second language at an early age is essential for children, Jacoby said, as their brains are still developing and are receptive to acquiring a new language.
“It’s really important to have such a skilled practitioner here at Lincoln to support our students through their growth through that language acquisition,” Rehfield said.
Jacoby started teaching online courses in Spanish in online courses to adults in the community in 2025. Some of her students in these online classes are the parents of her students at Lincoln, she said.
“I feel like they’re also experiencing the way that I teach my students, so now they understand the whole process of language acquisition,” Jacoby said.
She teaches five different classes from beginners to intermediate levels, she said.
Jacoby also finds being multilingual valuable in her personal life. She has three children who are bilingual, two who have already obtained their Seal of Biliteracy through Oak Park and River Forest High School, she said.
Jacoby will compete for regional Teacher of the Year honors through the central states, followed by a national competition next fall.
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She’s looking forward to sharing her experience of being a world language learner and how she applies it to her teaching.
But outside of the awards, she’s passionate about being able to share her experiences and other world cultures with her students, and that they can take with them outside of the classroom.
“I’m excited about providing them opportunities to see the world, not just giving them the language skills, but also the cultural competence and the power that brings with that when they are becoming global citizens because we are all citizens of the world,” Jacoby said.
“I feel like I’m kind of planting that seed of curiosity and supporting them to become collaborators, to have empathy for everybody and understand that regardless of where you live, we all belong to this world.”