DePuy (Power Tools VELY Digital Surgery & Capital)
In the presence of the students from William T. Dwyer High School, family members, Johnson & Johnson champions and volunteers, and leaders from Palm Beach State College, the BTE Palm Beach Gardens site celebrated its kickoff on October 26, 2023.
The kickoff event was held at Palm Beach State College’s Palm Beach Gardens campus. The BTE pro-gram was presented by the site coordinator Oleg Andrić, champion Monica Santos, and volunteer leader Vicky Case.
The BTE students from William T. Dwyer High School, and the volunteers from a local Johnson & Johnson office had a mentoring day on November 30th, 2023.
The mentoring event was an opportunity for the students and the mentors to learn about each others, to hear about the aspirational goals, ways to get involved, and to inspire and support. The BTE PBG students and volunteers enjoyed presenting fun facts about each other.
The Bridge to Employment Palm Beach Gardens students spent two days at the local Johnson & Johnson facility, getting oriented at industrial safety, and shadowing jobs at R&D and the assembly floor.
Observing, experiencing, handling, and asking questions, the students learned about the process of developing, prototyping, testing, and manufacturing the various tools in the mod-ern medical surgery field.
Bridge To Employment Palm Beach Gardens program celebrates the end of Year 1 with a round of mini golf!
Hands-on day at Johnson & Johnson! The students removed seeds from a watermelon using laparoscopic surgical tools; used high power bone cutting tools; and practice on Velys Robotics knee surgety equiopment.
Street fashion, high fashion – Palm Beach Gardens BTE Students rock it!
Hands-on day at Johnson & Johnson! The students learned about and saw in action laparoscopic surgical tools, high power bone cutting tools, and Velys Robotics knee surgery equipment, as well as new line of spine surgery equipment..
The students visited Health Care District Palm Beach County (HCDPBC) AeroMedical Unit – Trauma Hawk, and learned about the heir operations, careers, and were encouraged toward the careers in medical or technical fields that meet HCDPBC needs. Then, the students were given the overview of the aeromedical operations.
The first part of the tour was the Dispatch Center, that works with 911 system and the First Responders to decide when and where the Trauma Hawk helicopters are dispatched. Then the students toured the hangars with the helicopters – both older Sikorsky and newer Leonardo versions, learned about their functions and specifications, maintenance, parts, components, and talked to the pilots and their careers. Finally, the students spent time with the Fire Rescue – “the back crew” that takes care of the patients, and learn on their work.
It was an excellent opportunity for the students to see the technical as well as medical sides of the operations, all taking place practically on the Palm Beach International runway!
By the end of the program (June 2026), the BTE Palm Beach Gardens program will achieve the following:
90% of BTE participants complete the three-year program.
80% of BTE participants apply to a post-secondary program.
90% of BTE graduates are accepted to and plan to attend a post-secondary program.
80% of BTE graduates pursing a post-secondary program receive financial assistance.
60% of BTE graduates will pursue a STEM2D post-secondary program.
90% of BTE graduates are confident in their employability skills.
80% of BTE graduates obtain at least one digital badge certification.
95% of BTE graduates volunteer in their community and complete 4 of community service hours.