StoryCorps Chicago: ‘This Year … Will Probably Be One Of The Proudest Moments Of My Life’

Heidi Rockwell and Dr. Jessie Leyse.
Heidi Rockwell and her niece Dr. Jessie Leyse. Courtesy of StoryCorps
Heidi Rockwell and Dr. Jessie Leyse.
Heidi Rockwell and her niece Dr. Jessie Leyse. Courtesy of StoryCorps

StoryCorps Chicago: ‘This Year … Will Probably Be One Of The Proudest Moments Of My Life’

WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.

Heidi Rockwell teaches English and history at a high school in the far northwest suburbs of Chicago. Each year, she has her students interview family members as part of StoryCorps’ “Great Thanksgiving Listen.” This year, Rockwell used that moment as an opportunity to interview her own niece, whom she admires a great deal. Dr. Jessie Leyse is an infectious disease specialist who’s spent the past year dealing with the fallout from COVID-19. Jessie tells her aunt she’s been training for this for years, having worked in Liberia and other countries in West Africa fighting Ebola.

Bill Healy produces StoryCorps Chicago for WBEZ and teaches journalism at Northwestern University. Follow him @chicagoan.