If the "Moving Forward" theme of the Conifer High School yearbook has resonance, it rings for student Kayla Huddleston, who graduated May 18 from Conifer High School and will move forward in the fall when she attends Colorado State University to pursue a degree in journalism with an emphasis on public relations.

The school yearbook flap, which led local news reports, has parents upset and a teacher apologizing. It's not the way Huddleston expected her last days at the Jeffco mountain-area school to be portrayed. According to news reports, several pages are filled with photos of students in a haze of smoke, with liberal references to smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol.

She said, "As a matter of free speech, I'm on the fence about it. But I am upset that my senior yearbook is overshadowed by drugs and alcohol."

She added, "A lot of people are upset about the yearbook. They're saying 'Yeah, it sucks, but it's too late to do anything about it.'"

Huddleston said parents were upset about it because "it makes it look like we're a school full of pot users. The spread took up three pages, and band winning state is on the last page."

She defended Amy McTague, the yearbook teacher.

"I don't know what's going to happen to her. She is a really good teacher and very well liked."

Huddleston said she plans on working through the summer. "I have to work to help pay for college."

Share your comments about the Conifer High School yearbook, go to denver.yourhub.com/conifer

To read the Jefferson County Schools publication policy go to jeffcodir.jeffco.k12.co.us