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The inaugural Northland Hackathon in April 2022 exposed students from 20 Minnesota high schools to aspects of computer science that included building apps, writing code and exploring opportunities in tech.

That focus was important because, according to a 2022 report by the Code.org Advocacy Coalition (https://advocacy.code.org/stateofcs), Minnesota finished in last place when it came to the percentage of public high schools offering computer science courses.

This year, organizers are taking additional steps to introduce students to the fun of computer science. Four tech wizards — led by C...