Johnson & Johnson
Students from the Lancaster, PA Bridge to Employment program pose for a photo after their tour of the Johnson & Johnson plant. This global program is an initiative of Johnson and Johnson and pairs students with mentors from J&J. In Lancaster, PA there are 32, 10th grade students involved in the 3 year program, this is their first year. During the tour, students visited the high tech departments of the pharmaceutical plant and met with various staff, including many of their mentors. The experience brought to life what the industry does and the importance of the product and service provided.
The BTE Lancaster, PA students were surveyed and they overwhelmingly chose the environment for their Global Give Back project. Students were trained on how to identify and remove invasive plant species that are disrupting the biodiversity of the Climbers Run, Land Preserve in Pequea County. During the day, as students removed the problematic plants they learned about appropriate environmental behaviors and how to be a good land steward. They were excited to briefly explore a trail along the water and identified multiple plants and animals along the way. After removing huge amounts of the invasive plants, they made sure they were disposed of properly without disrupting the habitat of many animals and birds.
The Bridge to Employment, Lancaster, PA, USA students completed their first year in May of 2022. The three year program begin in September of 2021. Students explored careers in healthcare, science, technology, engineering, math, chemistry and environmental science. Students celebrated on May 11th with pizza, cake, a slide show of each session along with receiving a certificate of completion. Mentors from J&J were able to join us and all program partners from the past year were also invited.
We welcomed back our 2nd year BTE students with a full dinner, fun interactive activities and a presentation from the Future Ready Center at the School District of Lancaster. Mentors, staff and students enjoyed hearing about each other’s summer while enjoying lasagna, baked ziti, salad, bread, drinks and cookies. Our site coordinator reviewed the calendar for the year and provided highlights and program updates as well as distributing chrome water bottles with the BTE logo along with Career guides to each student. The students participated in a survey and had a genuinely good time seeing each other again and catching up. Permission slips were distributed for the many and varied upcoming field trips, that start as early as next week.
BTE Students traveled to the Climbers Run nature preserve for their first field trip in their second year of the Bridge to Employment program. Students learned about STEM careers within the natural sciences and biology. They had extensive training on safety and the operation of utilizing tools before they participated in a community service project of removing floral thorn brush from a large area on the preserve. This was the second time we visited this preserve due to it’s popularity in the first year when students selected the environment as their global give back issue to address. Once again they thoroughly enjoyed visiting and had a terrific time exploring the stream , trails, rocks and habitats during their visit.
On Oct. 6th students from the BTE program were invited to attend the Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health Hospital – A Day in the Life Job Shadow Day. Students visited and met with healthcare professionals from the cardiology, laboratory, nursing, operating room, pharmacy, physical medicine, respiratory and radiology departments. A full day was spent interacting and learning about the many and diverse opportunities available at the hospital, along with the training, skills and equipment needed for entering these career fields.
In November 2022 our theme was healthcare. Our community partner was the PA College of Health Sciences. A presenter came into the classroom and shared various trainings offered and the skill sets needed for careers within health care. Next the students traveled to the Health College and explored the respiratory care unit, assisted living, nursing and the patient simulator where they participated in assessing and administering medication.
Global Give Back
Part of the Global Give back day.
Still part of the Global Give back.
By the end of the program (August 2024):
100% of BTE students will graduate from high school
BTE students will demonstrate STEM2D knowledge by:
80% of BTE graduates will enroll in postsecondary education
90% of BTE students have identified a career pathway
80%
of BTE students will demonstrate the workplace soft skills of communication, teamwork, time management, decision-making, conflict resolution, and problem-solving by successfully working with their peers to complete a series of college and career design challenges
To achieve these end-of-grant outcomes, the partners achieved the following in year 1:
100% of BTE students will pass 10th grade core subjects to advance to 11th grade by August 2022
75% of BTE students will take or will have taken the Keystone Algebra 1 Exam and the Keystone Biology 1 Exam
80%
of BTE students will rate themselves as good or Very Good in workplace soft skills like communication, teamwork, time management, decision-making, conflict resolution, and problem solving in a higher education setting
To continue moving towards achieving these end-of-grant outcomes, the partners will strive to attain the following in Year 2:
100% of BTE students will pass 11th grade core subjects with a grade of C or higher by August 2023.
90%
of BTE students will score proficient or above on the Keystone Algebra 1 Exam and the Keystone Biology 1 Exam or meet McCaskey HS science and math graduation
requirements.
50% of BTE students have enrolled in advanced level science and/or math courses for the 2023-24 school year
75% of BTE students will score higher on the SAT than they did on the PSAT
100%
of BTE students will identify and visit a minimum of 2 postsecondary institutions they are interested in
attending
100% of BTE participants have completed a minimum of two work-based learning experiences related to their areas of career interest
100%
of BTE students will be able to articulate the importance of communication, teamwork, time management, decision-making, conflict resolution, and problem-solving in the workplace