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UHSRA Student Vice President Isla Bell, right, delivers toys to Primary Children's Hospital on Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, in Salt Lake City.

Courtesy Whitney Robb

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Toys donated at the annual UHSRA Christmas prom are pictured in an undated photo.

Courtesy Whitney Robb

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UHSRA Student Vice President Isla Bell, left, delivers toys to Primary Children's Hospital on Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, in Salt Lake City.

Courtesy Whitney Robb

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Toys donated at the annual UHSRA Christmas prom are pictured in an undated photo.

Courtesy Whitney Robb

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Being a member of the Utah High School Rodeo Association is no small commitment, as more than 600 Utah cowboys and cowgirls statewide compete in rodeos during up to 15-20 weekends out of the school year.

A highlight of the busy calendar is when the high schoolers step off the saddle and kick back at the annual cowboy prom.

“All the kids look forward to it every year,” UHSRA Student President and Spanish Fork High student Chezni Nelson said. “It’s a big thing. All the boys just ask the girls. And it’s a really, really fun thing.”

Each year, the dance is planned by the UHSRA student officers, who also coordinate an accompanying fundraiser to give back to their different communities, UHSRA youth adviser Whitney Robb said.

This year at the “Cowboy Christmas Prom” at the Spanish Fork Fairgrounds, the student officers chose to have a giving tree to collect toys for kids at Primary Children’s Hospital.

They obtained a list of needed items from the hospital and sent it out to dance attendees. People brought various new toys such as Barbies, board games, Hot Wheels and Play-Doh, to name a few.

“There were a lot of items,” UHSRA Vice President and Wasatch High student Isla Bell said. “Just a lot of small individualized gifts that you could easily group together or hand out and divide evenly among kids.”

Six boxes full of toys were delivered Monday to the hospital in Salt Lake City by Bell, who said it was difficult to stack them all on a single cart.

“I was grateful that I got to go, and that it fell into place,” Bell said. “They were very grateful, and it was super rewarding to see that.”

The students hope the toys will help lift the spirits of children experiencing significant health challenges. The fundraiser also showed what can be done through the collaboration of students from throughout the state.

“It’s honestly super cool that we can have all these kids come together and do something for someone,” youth social media representative Kami Beckstrom, of Lehi, said. “We have this association, we go have fun every weekend, but it’s also giving back to others that aren’t as fortunate.”

Planning the dance and the fundraiser is just one of many things the student officers do throughout the year.

According to Robb, the officers represent four of the 25 votes on the statewide board. They are responsible for setting the standard for the other high school students and continuing the rodeo legacy.

Soon, they’ll attend winter meetings in Colorado to meet with representatives from other states. Robb said Utah rodeo has one of the best high school programs and teaches other states how to operate.

“They carry a pretty heavy load, and they’re responsible for what goes right and what goes wrong,” Robb said.

To juggle it all, Bell said they have multiple group chats that they text back and forth on and hold board and office meetings before or after weekend rodeos.

“It’s cool to be the voice for the people I know, and it’s an awesome opportunity to see how much work goes on behind the scenes and help out with it,” UHSRA Secretary and Fremont High student Haven Hogge said.

Nelson said she feels honored to represent her peers on the rodeo board.

“When I was a little girl, I just always looked up to all the officers and thought it was so cool how they all got to plan cowboy prom and cowboy Sadie’s,” she said. “So it’s really special, I think, for all of us to be able to do something for all of our friends in the association.”