Phoenix Job Corps Center

With 23 years of service as a cement mason with OPCMIA Local 797, and another 4.5 years with the National Plastering Industry’s Joint Apprenticeship Trust Fund, Jeff Wagner brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the Job Corps program. Working with Job Corps students “has given me a feeling of accomplishment that I have shared my knowledge with our younger generation and to know I have made a difference in their lives,” he said.

Robert Munguia, Jr., became a proud OPCMIA member in 2011 and has worked in concrete construction for more than 20 years. He took a break from working as a cement mason to pursue a career in real estate for four years, but has now returned to his craft as Cement Mason Instructor at the Phoenix Job Corps Center. While this is his first formal instructional position, “I have always taken those with the passion or desire to excel in the trade and taught them the trade from the very basic of tools, squaring, building and setting forms,” he said. “This is a rare and exciting opportunity to make a difference teaching young men and woman a trade that most of us do with pride.”

José Luis Zazueta has worked as a plasterer since 1997, the last five years as a proud member of OPCMIA Local 797 in Las Vegas. While he struggled in his early years, “over time, I began to gain love and satisfaction from everything I did and thanks to those moments, I can share what I have learned,” he said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to be a Plastering Instructor and I’m going to do my best to help Job Corps participants be ready to do a worthy job that fills them with satisfaction at the end of each work day.”