Lesleighan Cravens, instructor of plant sciences, received the Outstanding Early Career Teaching Award at CAFNR’s 2019 Celebration of Excellence awards ceremony, held Thursday, April 11.

Cravens joined CAFNR as a floral design instructor after earning her bachelor’s degree from MU in agricultural education, with an emphasis in plant science and agricultural economics. She teaches five floral design courses at Mizzou. Cravens has served as an advisor for MU’s student chapter of the American Institute of Floral Designers since 2014.

“Lesleighan Cravens is an outstanding teacher because she is passionate about her students and the subject matter, she commits incredible amounts of time and personal energy to teaching, and she does what’s best for her students, not what’s best or easiest for her,” said Mary Ann Gowdy, plant sciences undergraduate advisor chair. “A high-quality instructor is a person who demonstrates enthusiasm and offers students support, future possibilities; they challenge students to achieve more than they believe they are capable of. Lesleighan Cravens is this teacher and highly deserving of the CAFNR Outstanding Early Career Teaching award.”