This week, 24 educators joined NCSS in Colonial Williamsburg to explore their professional leadership roles through the perspectives of our colonial leaders. NCSS President India Meissel and Executive Director Lawrence Paska opened the Summer Leadership Institute with an examination of the state of social studies education. Educators considered different approaches to leadership, recognizing leadership in themselves and others, and considered ways to approach interpretive leadership in the classroom with presenter Dr. Lisa Heuvel (Adjunct Associate Professor, The Department of Leadership and American Studies, Christopher Newport University). Participants also toured Colonial Williamsburg and learned about leadership from historical figures, including George Washington (pictured above), Thomas Jefferson, Ann Wager, and Gowan Pamphlet. In his blog reflecting on the Summer Leadership Institute, Dr. Paska writes that, "Our leadership focus moved quickly from the personal to the communal. We were explorers together, thinking about how to lead in the future by drawing vital lessons from our past – in the very place where these lessons unfolded. Our historical interpreters used the primary source writings of our colonial leaders. I think this is a strong new model for leadership development, and it perfectly fits with our NCSS mission and social studies inquiry framework."