Adel, 13 is a student at St Andrew’s College, an independent all boy’s boarding school in Aurora Ontario. This model student sleeps in a dorm with a roommate, eats every meal in a meal hall, plays many sports and participates in cadets at school. He has also never set foot on a farm. Homechooled nature boy from Buckhorn, ON, Alek, has a much less strict routine at home. This twelve-year-old studies with his sister, and helps with the organic vegetarian cooking that his parents cook. He also learns while cutting down trees, whittling walking sticks, taking nature photos, and shooting archery.

The Swap: Watch as Adel adjusts to the open schedule of a home-schooled environment. He participates in outdoor chores and gets his hands dirty in the woods. Meanwhile, our home-schooled swapper will try his hand at order and discipline. He will eat and sleep at school, learn to play the bagpipes at cadets and attend a few classes, as well as have some fun along the way at meals and drama performances.

SWAPPER JOURNAL - ADEL

"My swap experience was a lot of fun and very challenging, the coolest thing that happened to me during my swap was chopping and whittling my own tree. I was most scared at first, being on top of the tree stand because I didn't think that something that small could hold my weight. I was most proud of myself when I hit the target from the treestand. The thing that I will remember most about my swap would be being so close to nature all the time."

SWAPPER JOURNAL - ADEL

I swapped from home schooling to boarding school. The boy I SWAPped with was Adel. I learned to play the bagpipes. It was mildly difficult, but a rewarding experience. I was most scared when I was pronouncing the Latin grace in front of all the students at St Andrews College. It was frightening because it’s a language that I don’t speak or understand and I was given only 5 min to practice it.

After I finished the Latin grace I felt successful! I felt a huge sense of relief that it was over. All of the students gave me a big cheer. The thing I will remember most from St Andrews College is bagpipe lessons. At first it was so difficult to make a sound but over time I could eventually play a full scale. The teacher who taught me was an award winning professional. I was fun to experience a TV crew around you. The crewmembers were very kind. Thanks for a great experience!