A first of its kind web, gaming and application design competition was held in Bemidji this weekend.

The ‘True North Hackfest’ put on by the Blandin Foundation and Northwest Minnesota Foundation kicked off on Friday evening, with the Youth Game Design Challenge.

Students from grades 6 through 12, got a crash course in game design led by Bemidji State University Assistant Professor Drew Graham.

On Saturday, the Hackfest began. Their mission? To design a solution to be used in their communities.

The girls of LinCT within the Kitty Andersen Youth Science Center in the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul, were creating a two part system. One group made a site for others to know their constitution rights.

And the other group made a solution to share their stories of their rights being suppressed.

Students from Kelliher School created a game about invasive species, which have been seen in area lakes.

While some used a online website creators, others made theirs with lines upon lines of code.

After hours of working feverishly, the teams were ready to present to the judges.

At the end of the competition, Bemidji residents Dan Moe and Mychal Waldorf, along with Fargo resident Aric McGriff, walked away with the $1,000 grand prize for their solution EcoSavvy.

By — Mal Meyer