Step 7: Submit Your Stories to Smithsonian Gardens

Share your projects with a national online audience by contributing your garden interviews and stories to the Smithsonian Gardens Community of Gardens digital archive. By completing this step, you and your class will become Smithsonian Gardens Green Ambassadors, joining a network of young people helping others better understand the meaning and value of gardens and green space to American life—today and in the future!

To celebrate the hard work that went into conducting, editing, and assembling the garden interviews, Smithsonian Gardens will send you a Smithsonian Gardens Green Ambassador sign for your classroom along with a signed Certificate of Acknowledgement.

Your teacher should submit the garden stories to communityofgardens@si.edu. Be sure to include:

• Each student’s final story, including all accompanying media, clearly labeled.
• A brief description of the project and process.
• Student’s first name, name of interviewee (first name, last initial) and location of the garden.

After submitting the above information, Smithsonian Gardens will contact your teacher with any questions about the garden stories prior to posting them to the Community of Gardens digital archive. In sharing your story with Smithsonian Gardens you help ensure that your community’s garden stories can be an inspiration to others looking to preserve their own local garden history. We can’t wait to hear from you!

Dig in Deeper:

• Take a neighborhood walk and observe the gardens and green spaces around the school, or visit a local community garden.
• Host an event or develop an exhibit to showcase or listen to the garden stories you collected. Invite the interviewees, other students, family, friends, and neighbors.
• Write a reflection paper or present a talk on the experience of planning and conducting an interview, and what you learned about gardens and personal history.
• Transcribe (write down) your audio interviews. Ask a local library or museum if your digital files and/or transcriptions could become part of their local history collection. This may require a new consent form from the interviewee.