Central ND News

March is Women's History Month, a time to reflect on influential female figures in history. Among such figures is Joan Hecker Lennick, a notable graduate of Dickinson State University. Lennick's journey includes accomplishments as a rodeo champion and a long-standing educator.

Joan Hecker Lennick grew up on a farm north of Belfield, where her early education took place in a one-room schoolhouse. She graduated as her high school's valedictorian and enrolled at Dickinson State Teachers College in 1958. There, she was active in the Rodeo Club and was named the college’s Outstanding Elementary Student Teacher of the Year.

Her rodeo career began with a Shetland pony and later, a quarter horse named Speedy. Lennick's achievements in barrel racing were marked by several championships, including the North Dakota State High School and the North Dakota Rodeo Association championships. In 1960, she earned the American Collegiate Rodeo Association Barrel Racing Champion and the National All-Around Title. The same year, the National American Collegiate Rodeo Association named her "Cowgirl of the Nation."

Beyond her competitive success, Joan Hecker Lennick embarked on a teaching career following her graduation. She taught middle school initially in Beach, North Dakota, from 1960 to 1963, and later in the Bismarck public school system till 2006. Lennick expressed her commitment to students, stating, “I never gave up on a student.”

In addition to teaching, Lennick judged more than 250 events, and from 1997 to 2007, she was a trustee for the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame.

Her contributions have been recognized by her induction into the Arena of Academic Excellence at Dickinson State University in 2007 and the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2008. Joan Lennick, who embraces the cowboy code, currently resides in Bismarck, North Dakota.

This Women's History Month, Dickinson State University acknowledges the lasting influence of Joan Hecker Lennick.

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