14 - Following Curiosity with Andy Cockburn​

Andy is a Red Seal General Carpenter, with training and experience in restoration, traditional timber framing, drafting and design, stairs, custom housing and high-performance residential construction. He was also lucky enough to teach at the Algonquin College Perth Campus for about 15 years in the Construction Carpentry Advanced Housing Program, both part-time and full time. In 2017, he trained and earned his certification as a Passive House Consultant with the Canadian Passive House Institute and after years of membership with his local Home Builders’ in Perth, Ontario, Andy worked with the Canadian Home Builders Association national office as Director of Professional Development and Manager of Association Services. Always looking for a new challenge, Andy is now working with Guides.co, an online knowledge sharing platform, as well as helping a STEM mentorship program from Nova Scotia called Techsploration with a pilot program expansion into Ontario.

Andy lives in Perth, Ontario with his wife of 24 years and their 2 teenage kids.

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"A classroom with a teacher talking in front of students is really cost effective, a classroom where each student has a circular saw and a whole bunch of pieces of wood in front of them, is not"
--Andy Cockburn

“I’ve seen the lightbulbs go on with students, especially the students that were struggling and it was such a rewarding experience. I would never look back on my time and consider it a waste, it was one of the best times in my life.” 
--Andy Cockburn

Episode Links

• Andy's Instagram 
• Guides.co
• Techsploration

Episode Timeline

• 2:30 Why teaching 
• 4:50 Divorce and death in the family  
• 14:30 Parenting - protecting your kids and letting them fail 
• 17:45 The secret to a 25 year marriage?
• 21:00 It all started with drawing.
• 30:30 Moving to Perth to teach
• 41:00 Why build better. What is a passive house. 
• 31:00 Reusing displays from the Museum of Nature  
• 48:00 An introduction to Guides.co