Pictured above: The top three winners of the Shave your Eyebrows Challenge (from left): Derry-Hans Hellwege, first place, Michael Kematch, second place and Leighanne Sakayigun, third place.

A youth from Sapotaweyak Cree Nation challenged her community members to shave their eyebrows – as a fun way to encourage everyone to stay home during the pandemic.

It all started back in March 2020, when Monika Leask had the brilliant idea to create a “Fun & Games” Facebook group page for the community, through which she has kept community members motivated with challenges and family activities each month.

The most famous and memorable of the many fun challenges was “Shave your Eyebrows,” the first challenge for December. The 11-day challenge asked people to share a video and/or photo of themselves shaving their eyebrows with the Facebook group. It was created to encourage people to stay at home while enjoying a laugh and lifting everyone’s spirits during these though times.

Monika Leask did not expect the challenge would bring much attention, but she was surprised the next day when many community members – youth and adults – started sharing their videos and photos, especially when community leaders joined the challenge to show their support.

The challenge was a huge success and went viral on social media, drawing the attention of news networks. On December 3, CTV’s Morning live program interviewed Leask. The challenge received support from Neil Dennis Kematch Memorial School Student Council, and the Sapotaweyak Cree Nation Health Authority. The Northern store was pleased to support by contributing gift cards for the winners. 

Northern Store Manager Edwin Knott was up to the challenge, joining in and bravely shaving his own eyebrows to show support for his community. “This is a great way to get the community members to stay home as much as possible. Let's face it, who wants to go out without their eyebrows?,” said Knott. “We have to find ways to stay positive and there is no better way than to make people laugh.”

The winners of the challenge were announced on December 13 through the "Fun & Games" Facebook group page where Stonechild Sakayigun, Neil Dennis Kematch Memorial School Vice President, pulled out the names from a hat during a live video.