Controversial ... this is the photo Rebekah Rorick’s high school didn’t want to publish. Picture: News 10/Viscosi Photography Source: Supplied

Rebekah Rorick, a final-year student at Broadalbin-Perth High School, in New York, said the picture she submitted represented her two great loves: her dog, and hunting.

“My family has always hunted,” she told News 10. “It’s something I do with my family, and my dog is my best friend. So I decided to put her in the photo. I fell in love with [the picture]. It’s my favourite photo of all time right now.”

Defiant ... student Rebekah Rorick said the picture represents her love of dogs and hunting. Picture: News 10 Source: Supplied

However, her school’s yearbook committee refused the photo because Rebekah was holding a gun.

“And I was like, ‘Why?’ And they are like, ‘Because there’s a gun in it.’ And I’m like, ‘But it’s a hunting rifle. I’m wearing camo. I have my dog with me,’” Rorick said. “I was ready to cry. I didn’t know what I was going to do. The only thing I thought to do was address it.”

Rebekah’s dad this week took the case to the Board of Education, where he argued that the portrait was no different to many others because it showed student interests.

Superintendent Stephen Tomlinson said Rebekah’s photo fit with the board’s policy against weapons.

‘True loves’ ... Rebekah Rorick won the right to include this snap in her yearbook. Picture: News 10/Viscosi Photography Source: Supplied

“We do have a policy against weapons, but at first glance, and even now, I do not believe that this is,” he said. “She is not holding the gun in a malicious manner. She is not pointing it anywhere. It’s to me, in my opinion, a nice photograph of a young lady in the Adirondack region that enjoys hunting.”

The photo will now appear in the yearbook.

“I was so happy. I could not stop smiling,” Rebekah said. “I felt the board had a lot of courage. It’s something I’ll hold forever.”