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.
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.