The Naa Kahidi dancers celebrated their 20th anniversary on Saturday (photo by Anne Brice)

The Naa Kahidi Dancers performed at the Sheet’ka Kwaan Naa Kahidi on Saturday (9-20-14) to celebrate the group’s 20th anniversary. The Naa Kahidi Dancers were founded in 1994 by Chuck Miller, who began dancing when he was three years old, in the Sitka Native Education Program. “When I dance, when I put on my regalia, it feels like my ancestors are running through my veins,” he said. – Anne Brice

REBOUND is the name of the film and the program, which completed its third season early this summer. Although it has included boys in the past, REBOUND this year brought together nine high-school age girls for an extended kayaking trip in Southeast Alaska. The lessons in the program range from basic camping skills — like creating a bear hang for food — to how to live and work cooperatively with no communication to the outside world and, more importantly, with no shampoo.

Anne Brice spent last winter as KCAW’s post-graduate fellow in community journalism. She’s now a prevention specialist with Sitkans Against Family Violence. Brice produced the film REBOUND. She and prevention director Julia Smith take us behind the scenes.

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I think it’s important for girls to understand why they should be respected, why we have power….

Julia Smith: “Most of the individuals, in this year and years past, have never spent this much time in the backcountry. Even though many of them live in rural communities, they’ve never had an opportunity to really experience the outdoors without a lot of amenities. So we’re backcountry camping for five days, and it’s challenging.”

I don’t really know much about life outside my home, and outside of my family, who have supported me my whole life….

Smith: “We see some breakdowns halfway through the trip. It’s emotionally challenging, it’s physically challenging. But by the end of the trip, many of them this year said things like, I’ve always wanted to camp, and now I know how to. Some of them said this trip helped them redefine themselves. And many of them felt like, because of the experience, they now have a better sense of what they want to do in the next chapter in their lives.”

It was very challenging. Me and Lily, we were paddling very, very hard, but still (laughs) we would get behind….

Anne Brice: “Watching it over and over, I was just struck by how funny all of the girls were, and how honest they were. They were just really nice to each other. You hear high school girls can be catty, and not that nice to each other. That’s the opposite of what was happening.”

Respect to me means showing that you care, no matter what you do….

Smith: “They just have no idea what they’re getting into. It doesn’t matter how much you try to prepare them for going into the backcountry and how you’re going to use the bathroom, and the fact that there are no showers, and No you can’t wash your hair in the ocean — all of these are new concepts to them. In past years we’ve been on our boat, and we’re literally about to get dropped off into the backcountry and I’ve had girls say, Hey, can I bring this? And it’s a bottle of Pert shampoo, 12 ounces big.”

I learned how to become a better leader….

Brice: “It was interesting to hear their low points and their high points. You could tell. In their voices you could hear it.”

I also learned a lot about camping.

Smith: “Another day when we were in the rain for 12 hours, one of the funniest moments on the trip was when one of our participants said, Isn’t it ironic that the only dry article of clothing I have is my bathing suit?”

I’ve regained a sense of my own capabilities. I would really like to empower others around me, and to continue to empower myself.

KCAW 2012-13 Post-Graduate Fellow Anne Brice, with reporter Ed Ronco.

When we designed the post-graduate fellowship, we planned for many things, but not for saying goodbye to a colleague and friend. Lucky for us, Anne has decided to remain in Sitka. She’ll begin work as a prevention specialist at Sitkans Against Family Violence (SAFV) in July.

Anne earned her Master’s Degree from the University of California Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism in 2012. We’ve already started advertising for her replacement for 2013-14. Warning to potential applicants: The bar is very high, Duuders!

KCAW’s Anne Brice and Robert Woolsey following the tri.

Sitkan Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins was the overall winner in this year’s JHT, posting a time of 1:25:57. The top solo woman was Emily Davis at 1:40:24. In the youth division, Joe Pate had the top time of 34:31. Skylar Moore was the top girl at 36:35.

See the complete results from the 29th annual Julie Hughes Triathlon.

Listen to Bill & Carol Hughes and Suha Tokman discuss the history of Alaska’s oldest triathlon on Sitka Sports with Mike Vieira.

To a lot of us, running seems like work, or at least exercise. But for a group of girls in Sitka, running is actually pretty fun. They’re part of an after-school program that combines running with learning important life lessons. It’s encouraged one fifth-grader to dream about her future.

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Nikkia Brazell is 10 years old and loves to run.

“It feels really fun and sometimes when you get to run with your friend, you have fun, you get to laugh,” Nikkia said.

The girls listen to their coach, whom they call Miss Kym, as she explains the day’s lesson about choosing friends who are positive and inclusive. (Photo by Anne Brice/KCAW)

It’s a national program that began in North Carolina in 1996. It was created to inspire girls to be confident and healthy through running.

On the last day of the 24-lesson program, the girls get new Nike running shoes to wear during the 5K race. (Photo by Anne Brice/KCAW)

Girls on the Run got its start in Sitka five years ago. Every spring, girls in grades three through five meet twice a week at Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary School.

Nikka says running with a group of only girls makes her feel safer.

“Boys can, like, push you to the limit, but when girls are there, they don’t push you at all,” Nikkia said. “Like, you know how they throw the ball sometimes at you? Girls don’t do that.”

The ultimate goal of the program is to decrease domestic violence by giving girls tools that help build their self-esteem, making them less likely to become victims later in life.

There are 24 practices and each one teaches a different lesson. It might be how to stop bullying or resist peer pressure. Kym Johns is Nikkia’s coach and is leading today’s lesson.

“One very powerful idea that we are going to talk about today is the power we have to choose our friends,” Kym said.

Girls on the Run is a national program that began in North Carolina in 1996. It now has 55,000 volunteers across the United States and serves more than 130,000 girls in more than 200 cities. (Photo by Anne Brice/KCAW)

The game encourages girls to choose friends who celebrate who they are just the way they are. Kym reads positive and negative messages, like, “Wow! That report you did was awesome!” or “Oh my gosh, you can do done better than that.”

And depending on the type of message, the girls either run in a circle with a bounce in their step or slowly drag their feet.

At practice, Nikkia is a bit quieter than a lot of the girls. And she says her favorite activity is an introspective one.

“Well, we tried running silently, and it was kinda hard for some girls, but I tried it and I started liking it,” Nikkia said.

She says the exercise gives her quiet time to think about what she wants to do and who she wants to be when she grows up.

“I thought about working as a teacher,” Nikkia said. “Yeah, I also want to learn how to speak Tlingit because I already know the Pledge of Allegiance in Tlingit.”

Kym Johns is a paraprofessional at Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary School. This is first year being a volunteer coach for Girls on the Run, and says she plans to do it again next year. (Photo by Anne Brice/KCAW)

The game encourages girls to choose friends who celebrate who they are just the way they are. Kym reads positive and negative messages, like, “Awesome job” or “You could have done better than that.” Depending on the type of message, the girls either run in a circle with a bounce in their step or slowly drag their feet.

For Nikkia, one exercise stands out among the rest: Silent running. “Well it’s to help think of stuff that might encourage others and you,” she said.

And she says running silently gives her quiet time to think about what she wants to do and who she wants to be. “I thought about being a teacher, and a coach for girls on the run. I also want to learn how to speak Tlingit because I have already learned the Pledge of Allegiance in Tlingit.”

All of the girls gathered by the Sitka Sound Science Center on Saturday for the 5K race. They had their faces painted and hair sprayed with bright colors before the event to get pumped and show some team spirit. (Photo by Anne Brice/KCAW)

Brian Sparks is a domestic violence prevention specialist at the women’s shelter in town, Sitkans Against Family Violence, or SAFV. He organizes the local branch of the program and says he hopes Girls on the Run will help change social norms on a bigger scale.

“They spread these lessons. Let’s say the not gossiping lesson. Well, okay so now if somebody who’s not in Girls on the Run, you know, starts to gossip, there’s a critical mass of girls who have attended Girls on the Run who don’t accept that behavior anymore,” Brian said.

On a recent Saturday, all the girls’ hard work is put to the test. They’re running a 5K to celebrate the end of the season. They choose running teams and pose for a group photo.

Nikkia ran the 5K last year, and says that even though it was hard, she was proud that she set a goal and she stuck to it.

To learn more about Girls on the Run, visit: http://www.girlsontherun.org/ and for more information about the Sitka branch, go to: http://www.safv.org/girls-on-the-run.html.

Donovan Gurule belts out a solo from a Michael Jackson song, “Will You Be There,” while the other students sing the chorus. Gurule was chosen as a “most representative student,” along with Cingarkaq Pavilla. (Photo by Anne Brice/KCAW)

High school graduation is a big deal. It marks the end of adolescence and the beginning of a newfound independence. On Thursday, May 9, Mt. Edgecumbe seniors graduated from the state-run boarding school while families and friends watched from the auditorium at the Sitka Performing Arts Center. Here’s an audio postcard that highlights some of the memorable moments of the students’ speeches.

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As 68 Mt. Edgecumbe seniors walk slowly onto the stage, one-by-one, families take photos and video with their cameras and smart phones. (Photo by Anne Brice/KCAW)

After the student and faculty speeches, seniors bring red roses to their families in the audience to show their appreciation for their support throughout their four years at Mt. Edgecumbe. (Photo by Anne Brice/KCAW)

Kory Joe was named Valedictorian of Mt. Edgecumbe’s class of 2013. Before giving his speech, Academic Principal Bernie Gurule read excerpts from Joe’s school application, like, “I’ll clean up my room real great…most of the time.” (Photo by Anne Brice/KCAW)

Library Director Sarah Bell in her office at Kettleson Memorial Library in September 2012. (Photo by Ed Ronco/KCAW)

Kettleson Library in Sitka has been planning an expansion project for the past decade, using a combination of public and private funding. On Saturday, the library staff announced its newest, and perhaps most surprising, donation yet.Listen to iFriendly audio.

About two weeks ago, a man walked into the Sitka Public Library. It was Gus Adams, a Sitkan who uses the library everyday.

“He is Tlingit. He is a mature gentleman. He has a great smile.”

That’s the lead librarian, Sarah Bell.

“He likes the facility,” said Bell. “He uses what’s there. He’s very precise, so when he needs help, we offer help, and if we can’t do it at the moment, we work really hard to make certain that we can answer his needs and his questions.”

But that day was different.

“So, we were well-acquainted with him, but I had not anticipated anything like that,” said Bell.

Adams knew that the library was raising money for an expansion, and he wanted to make a donation.

“And I said, ‘Oh, great!’ And as time progressed, he decided on the figure of donating $20,000. That was a pretty great way to start off a capital campaign.”

Bell says the library’s wish list for the expansion includes: A humidity-controlled local history room, a conference room, a space with a 3D printer and high-end computer software, a couple of study rooms, and an area for computer instruction.

“We call it 60 percent expansion, 100 percent better,” said Bell.

So, last Saturday morning, when the library was celebrating National Library Week with a free community pancake feed, everything stopped at 10:30 a.m. for Adams to announce his donation.

“I think that people were pretty amazed,” said Bell.

Bell had gotten a huge $20,000 check printed out to hold up as part of the presentation.

“And I am not at all good with dimensions and so I said, ‘well, it seems to me maybe three feet by six or something like that.’ It kind of looks like a four by eight, a big piece of, but they printed it out and it came out beautifully. And when Gus came in, he said, oh, that’s really big, and I said, why yes, but you’re writing a really big check.”

And to top it off, Adams announced at the presentation that he would donate another $1,000 if the audience matched it. Community members tripled that number with $3,000.

Bell says the library staff has been working at the expansion for more than a decade. So far, money has come from the Friends of Kettleson Library, the state, a sizeable bequest, and most recently, Adams’ surprise donation.

“Every organization I’ve ever belonged to, I’ve tried to leave it better than I found it,” said Adams. “This may sound like a real lofty goal, but the thought, why not leave the community better than when you found it? So, I’m kind of drifting in that direction.”

The total budget for the expansion is 6.2 million dollars, and 5.7 million of that is from a state grant. Bell says that they’ve got just a little more than $175,000 left to go.

Dr. Debra Pohlman checks in with her patient, Brooke Chartier, 23, pregnant with her first baby. Chartier said she originally planned to have five kids, like her mom, but now says she and her husband, Tim, will see how one goes before making any more decisions. (Photo by Anne Brice)

There were many reasons that Sitka Community Hospital closed its obstetrics program in 2009, and a number of factors and people involved in its re-opening two years later. In part two of our series on the importance of obstetrics in rural medicine, we talk with a physician whose commitment to a full-spectrum family practice has made a big difference to Sitka’s local hospital.

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Dr. Debra Pohlman is a family physician at Sitka Community Hospital. She’s letting a pregnant patient listen to her baby’s heartbeat with a stethoscope.

Brooke Chartier is due at the end of April. She has been seeing Dr. Pohlman as her primary physician during her entire pregnancy. She says her mom knew Pohlman from when she had children at Sitka Community.

“Since my mom had all her kids here, she knew all the nurses, who to call,” said Chartier. “It made it easier that she had been through it and I just did what she told me to do.”

Pohlman delivered babies at Sitka Community in the early 1990s. But by 1995, she had developed an interest in teaching residents – graduates of medical school – who were going into family medicine. Her first stop was in Vancouver, Washington, where she helped set up the OB portion of a family practice residency program.

But Vancouver was a little too urban for her, so she moved back to Alaska — to Anchorage — to work in the state’s only medical residency program.

In the meantime, in 2009, Sitka Community Hospital closed its OB program because of a lack of properly qualified physicians.

“There were folks who would periodically get in touch with me and say, ‘Would you reconsider coming back down?'” said Pohlman. “It was always tempting, but it was hard for me for a long time to consider giving up teaching.”

Hugh Hallgren became the CEO of the hospital several months after OB program had ended. At the recommendation of the board, he began planning to rebuild the program.

“This was a need that was felt by a number of people in the community, that they should be able to have their babies here,” said Hallgren.

Eventually, in 2011, Pohlman did come back to Sitka and resumed her full-time family practice. She says although it was a struggle to decide to stop teaching at the medical school, she felt compelled to return to the rural community, partly because she saw a need that wasn’t being met by newer doctors.

“Perhaps disappointment in the success that I had hoped I might be a part of in getting some of our Alaska graduates to go to rural areas,” said Pohlman.

Even the best training can’t guarantee that someone could make it as a doctor in rural Alaska. It takes a long time, and young doctors often form their own families and start to put down roots in the more urban areas where they learn their profession.

“We have a number of wonderful graduates who have gone to OB/GYN programs,” said Pohlman, “and I haven’t seen any of them coming back and going to places like Soldotna or Juneau…”

Pohlman is candid about the challenge of working as a rural physician. Rural hospitals have fewer resources and smaller medical staffs. She says staying current in her skills is a constant worry.

“The fear of not being up to date or not learning of a new recommendation that might make a difference for your patient…it’s always in the background,” she said. “It weighs heavily on you.”

Dr. Pohlman continues to build her practice, and says she enjoys getting to know her new patients. Brooke Chartier says she is more than ready to the baby to arrive, and she has a plan for the big day.

“I have invited people, and we’ll see,” said Chartier. “I have my best friend, who was in, I was outside the door of her birth because I was feeling lightheaded. And everyone has said, ‘If you decide to kick us out, it’s okay…so, we’ll see. Oh! And my husband. That’s a good one to include in there. He’ll be in there. Hopefully.”

Annabelle, 1, gets an immunization for pertussis at a community health center in Richmond, California. (Photo by Anne Brice/KCAW)

Whooping cough is on the rise in Alaska. It’s been moving up the coast from California, and in March, caused the death of an infant in Western Alaska. But there are ways to avoid catching the highly contagious bacterial infection.

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Ellen Daly is a nurse who works at the Public Health Center in Sitka. She says the best way to combat whooping cough is by getting immunized.

She says whooping cough is quickly spreading through Alaska and that babies and small children are the most vulnerable to the bacteria.

Whooping cough, or pertussis, might resemble a common cold at first, with a sniffle and a cough. But if the cough sticks around for longer than 7 days and progresses to violent fits of hacking that sound like this: (Sounds of a baby with pertussis, coughing).

…it’s a good sign it’s pertussis, especially if the coughing ends with vomiting.

The highest rates of infection are in places where groups of kids congregate, like schools and daycare facilities.

The good news is, it’s easy to protect against. Infants as young as two months old can be immunized, and it’s a part of the regular series of vaccinations that all kids receive. Daly says adults who are around kids should also be immunized.

Daly says first, you should go to your healthcare provider for your shots. But if you can’t, because you’re uninsured or underinsured, you can visit the Public Health Center, and receive a vaccination.

“We’re here to serve those who can’t get the service anywhere else. Someone who doesn’t have Medicare, or they’re not employed…they don’t have money to go the doctor.”

She says everyone can receive an immunization to pertussis if they want one.

To learn more about pertussis, and to listen to the sound of its accompanying cough, you can go to the State of Alaska’s Public Health webpage. For more information about the Sitka Public Health Center’s vaccination program, you can call 747-3255.

Brooke Chartier, 23, is pregnant with her first child. She and her husband, Tim Chartier, attend a series of five weekly childbirth classes at Sitka Community Hosptial. This class explores natural birth techniques, like massage, to lessen discomfort leading up to and during the birth process.  (Photo by Anne Brice/KCAW)

Sitka Community Hospital — like most hospitals — delivers babies. But that hasn’t always been the case. For about two years, from 2009 to 2011, a lack of properly qualified physicians caused a shutdown of its obstetrics program. In the first part of a two-part series, KCAW looks at how the return of obstetrics has made a difference for expectant moms.

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I’m at a birth class at Sitka Community Hospital. It’s a five-session series, and this week, first time moms are learning about natural childbirth techniques. A small group of women are lying on their sides with pillows wedged between their knees, with the dads sitting close by.

Brooke Chartier is due in just a few weeks. She’s 23 years old and comes from a family of five kids.

“I had always said I wanted to have five and I got on the pilot so I could fit all my kids in there,” said Chartier, “but being at the end of this pregnancy, I’m like, I’m just gonna see how one goes and then we’ll see.”

She says since this is her first pregnancy, she had no idea what to expect. “People always say that pregnancy isn’t like you see it in the movies,” she said. “Then going through it, it’s like, oh yeah, you know, I don’t look like my same self with just a belly. Like, everything changes. Not just your belly. And even though I thought I knew what it was going to be like, you don’t really know until you’re in it, I guess.”

Dr. Debra Pohlman provides Chartier’s obstetrics care. She worked at Sitka Community Hospital in the early 90s, and just recently came back to work as a family doctor delivering babies in 2011. She says caring for pregnant women is a privilege, and brings her a lot of joy.

“Most of medicine is dealing with people who are in pain, they don’t feel well, something’s gone wrong,” said Pohlman. “Obstetrics is a natural process that thankfully only a small percentage ends up being problematic, and the rest is a natural process where families invite you to be part of this miraculous thing called birth and it’s very invigorating.”

“They’re super good at Sitka Community,” said Chartier, “because they say if you feel nervous at all, call us, we’d rather have you come in a thousand times, 100 times with nothing wrong than not call us and have something really be wrong, so they don’t make you feel silly for calling.”

Sitka Community Hospital hasn’t always had a strong obstetrics program. In fact, starting in 2009, the OB program ended altogether because there were no longer any physicians who could perform cesarean sections (one left the hospital and the remaining doctor didn’t want to be on-call for c-section surgery around the clock).

Without an OB program at Sitka Community, pregnant women either went to SEARHC or had to leave town for medical appointments and to give birth, putting total trust into doctors with whom they had no relationship. There were a few midwives who did home deliveries at the time, but they weren’t trained in giving emergency c-sections.

When CEO Hugh Hallgren arrived at the hospital, it still didn’t have OB services. So, right away, at the suggestion of the board, he set out to rebuild the program. “You get the physician first, and we needed the physician to guide us in the process,” said Hallgren. “Physicians are not all the same. They have their strengths and they have their preferences.”

Word of Sitka Community’s struggles even reached Debra Pohlman in Anchorage, where she was teaching medical students and residents. “It kind of weighed heavily when I kept getting called and people were saying, ‘Our OB program is closed and we’d really like to reopen it.’ I wasn’t seeing anybody following in my past footsteps, so I thought, might as well do it.”

So, in September 2011, she moved back.

“When she finally said, yes, I’ll come back, it was like a gun going off to start a race,” said Hallgren.

Now, there are two full-time family physicians at Sitka Community Hospital, Dr. Pohlman and Dr. Charles Roesel, who deliver babies and perform c-sections. There is also a general surgeon who can provide c-sections and an OB/GYN who makes monthly visits to look at more complicated obstetrical cases.

Pohlman sees roughly 6 to 12 patients a day. She says that even though rural physicians work longer hours and get paid less, the relationships she has with patients and the high quality of life she leads, makes it more than worth it.

“I don’t want to be seeing 40 to 50 patients a day,’ she said. “Running them through. Literally talking to them for 5 minutes so that I can get a big salary and then when I get my time off, I can do all those things. Where here in Sitka, you can go fishing in the summer if you get up early and you’re not on call, before you come to work.”

The attention makes a difference for these soon-to-be moms.

In part two of this series, we’ll look at the challenges that rural hospitals face in keeping physicians, and learn more about Debra Pohlman’s reasons for returning to Sitka Community Hospital after an absence of nearly two decades.