Inspiring Connection, One Chicago Teacher’s Mission to Record History

Ten years ago, StoryCorps launched The Great Thanksgiving Listen—encouraging young people to record an interview with an important elder in their lives during the holidays using the StoryCorps app.

An illustration of a young woman and an elderly man sitting on a couch in a cozy living room. The woman shows her phone to the man, who holds a pipe and a cat. A glowing icon of a woman and baby floats above them.
History teacher Stacy Flannery has been teaching at Glenbrook South High School near Chicago for 31 years. When StoryCorps launched the app in 2015, she immediately started using it with her students. Each year since they’ve recorded what they call the Living History Project, and thousands of students have collected conversations.

Stacy came to StoryCorps to reflect on what the project has meant to her and her students.

Listen to the StoryCorps Podcast to hear more stories from Stacy and her students.

Top photo: Glenbrook South High School teacher, Stacy Flannery (center), with students Madeleine Ocampo, Emily Kang, Anna Alghanim, and Annie Badawi (left to right) in Glenview, Illinois, 2005. Photo courtesy Stacy Flannery.

This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Originally aired November 21, 2025 on NPR’s Morning Edition.