Dawn Kilmer at her desk at City Hall. (submitted/Dawn Kilmer)

By Susan McNeil

Women's Day

Former Prince Albert Principal to be inducted into Women’s Hall of Fame

Feb 21, 2025 | 4:39 PM

City councillor, volunteer, educator and sports-buff Dawn Kilmer is this year’s inductee into the Prince Albert Women’s Hall of Fame.

Kilmer told paNOW she was thrilled when she got the call that she was this year’s chosen honouree.

“It was surreal to get the phone call and say that I was selected and it’s just such an honour, such a privilege,” she said.

Much of her volunteer time has revolved around athletics in some way. Kilmer was instrumental in bringing Hoopla to Prince Albert, organized the SWISH for Cure Cancer game at Carlton High School in 2020 and raising over $100,000 for the Victoria Hospital Home Care program.

Before running for city council, Kilmer was on the Board of Directors for the Prince Albert Raiders, she volunteered for the +55 Senior Games held in the city in 2022 and she was part of the organizing committee that brought the World Men’s Softball qualifiers here last year.

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“Being involved in sport really taught me to be a teammate and allowed me to grow my leadership style and let other people to grow theirs,” she said.

Kilmer grew up in Carrot River where she learned to love playing basketball in the school there. The love has propelled more than her volunteer choices, it also helped her chose a career in education.

“As an educator, most of the reason that I went into teaching was to coach and teaching and coaching are similar,” she said. That took her into administration where she was known to many students as the school vice principal and principal.

When she worked at Carlton, she coached basketball because of her own connection playing it.

“Athletics has always been an important part of my growth and life and I just love watching people compete and show their leadership and grow.”

Kilmer said she loves watching the Raiders play, enjoys junior hockey, the Mintos and the Bears.

As a teen, she noticed the difference in how the boys played and how girls played between the varying levels of physicality and the amount of time players would spend on the court.

“The game was very different. If the girls bumped someone, the whistle blew,” she said.

At first, basketball played runner up to volleyball in her education career but that too has changed over the years. Teams have won provincial championships, and the sport has gotten more popular.

When she noticed that Hoopla was always held in Saskatoon or Regina, she set out doing her best to ensure Prince Albert was included in the rotation.

That worked and now it is routine for the major tournament to move from city to city and has expanded to include Moose Jaw as well.

Kilmer was the first woman to be principal at Carlton Comprehensive High School and finds it funny to look back at parents that called for ‘Don Kilmer’.

Some hung up when she answered because it hadn’t occurred to them that it could be a woman.

If she breaks barriers, it isn’t deliberate, Kilmer said. It is part of her innate personality to look a life a certain way, though.

“I don’t do it on purpose, but I live a life of like, why not us? Wouldn’t that be neat to have in Prince Albert?” she explained.

“We can do that. We just don’t have to do it in the same way its (done) over there. We have the people, and we have the resources, and it brings great opportunity for all of us to be part of something bigger than ourselves.”

This year’s International Women’s Day theme is ‘For ALL women and girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment’ and the concept is taking on more significance as the world changes.

As a mother of two daughters, Kilmer said she has some trepidation about changes in the world, particularly when looking at the rollback of women’s rights in places like the United States or worse; in Afghanistan, women are sidelined to the point they are not allowed to be seen in a window by a man.

Kilmer came from generations of strong women and she’s passing that on.

“To me it’s exactly what my grandma and my mom, myself and my daughters live. I just really believe that if you can’t see it, you can’t be it,” she said.

If young girls see women going into professions like medicine or policing and watch female athletes excel, they know they can do it too.

“You start thinking, I can do that and that’s what we continue to do in our city, and I think that theme is exactly the perfect theme for right now at this time.”

The ceremony inducting Kilmer into the Prince Albert Women’s Hall of Fame will happen on International Women’s Day on March 8.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

On BlueSky: @susanmcneil.bsky.social