In 2021 Minnesota High Schools were facing a serious problem…

Despite consistent top 10 K-12 ratings in education, and the abundance of opportunities in the private sector at companies such as UnitedHealth Group, Medtronic, 3M, Best Buy, Target, General Mills, & Ecolab to name a few - Minnesota public high school ranked 50th of 50 States in high school computer science offerings.

Started by Luke Heine in 2022: Northland Hackathon has played a meaningful role in addressing Minnesota’s historically limited access to computer science education by creating a free, accessible, and hands-on entry point into tech for students across the state. At a time when Minnesota has ranked near the bottom nationally in offering public high school computer science courses , the hackathon was designed to close that gap by exposing students—many with little to no prior experience—to real-world tech skills like building apps, designing products, and collaborating on projects.