Sacramento Job Corps Center

A 1996 graduate of the Sierra Nevada Job Corps Plastering Program, Alex J. Garcia serves as the OPCMIA Job Corps’ California Regional Coordinator. After completing Job Corps, he enrolled in the San Francisco Plastering Local # 66 Apprenticeship program, becoming a journeyman in 2000. In addition to working as a plasterer for the past 22 years, Mr. Garcia has served as a plastering instructor at various OPCMIA training facilities until he was named to his current post in 2018. “As a former student in the [Job Corps] program, I understand the significance of not missing an opportunity for a enthusiastic accolade and a conscious effort in a teachable moment,” he said. “I began to see my own self worth as a young adult … because of merited praise and being introduced to different perspectives. … I reflect on situations that I have experienced … as a Job Corps student and instructor to aid in my interactions.”

A 19-year OPCMIA member and second-generation plasterer, Andres Torres completed his Apprenticeship with Local 66 in San Francisco and has taught his craft at the Sacramento Job Corps Center for more than 15 months. “Being an Instructor for the NPIJATF has presented me with the opportunity to give back to the trade that supported me,” he said. “By training youth in plastering, I am able to help provide the OPCMIA with the future in our Industry. Observing the trainees’ skill level improve with their tools and the pride they take to wear the OPCMIA symbol on their uniforms really brings new joy and more pride for me in my career.”

A student at the Gary Job Corps Center in 1996 and a former New Orleans resident, Nathaniel Encalade worked as an OPCMIA cement mason for 12 years before recently becoming Cement Mason Instructor at the Sacramento Job Corps Center. “Job Corps has made one of the single most life-changing differences in my career to become an instructor,” he said. “Leaving New Orleans after Katrina, I didn’t know what was in store for me in becoming a California union cement mason. I fell in love with this trade at a very young age. With all the ups and downs this trade can bring, this has been the most rewarding honor, to be able to share my passion to help guide youth and pass on my knowledge of cement placement at the same time.”