Instructor at Milwaukee Spanish Immersion School surprised with state's Teacher of the Year award

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- It was a special day for one local teacher who was just named the 2026 Wisconsin Teacher of the Year. 

Toni Fink, a second-grade teacher at the Milwaukee Spanish Immersion School, was treated with a surprise ceremony Wednesday morning for the announcement. 

State Superintendent Jill Underly was joined by the school's students and faculty in giving Fink the honor. 

Despite it being an individual award, Fink says the practice of teaching is anything but that. 

"This is such a team sport, teaching is the people you work with every day. The parents, the students, the families that are supporting us hours and hours away from them," said Fink. "But I just always want the kids to feel loved, feel safe, feel important and valued, and I think they can do anything and that's what this award is about."

Fink has spent the last 25 years at the Milwaukee Spanish Immersion School, teaching both second and fifth grade.