The 23-year-old math teacher at Overland High School in
Aurora, Colorado who is in hot water with Cherry Creek School District officials
for tweeting racy photos of herself as well as posting about drug use was put
on paid leave by the district, but some of her students -- and fans -- are
standing by her on Twitter in her time of need using the hashtag #FreeCrunkBear
to show their support.
9News reports that some of Carly McKinney's students don't
think she should be punished for what she pursues in her free time outside of
school hours. "It's a teacher that's only five or six years older than our
oldest students," an Overland High
School student named Shaun told 9News. "So
we kind of relate to her on a personal level."
Even some of McKinney 's
fellow teachers told 9News that they support her right to free speech and don't
think she should be fired over her tweets.
The #FreeCrunkBear" hashtag comes from McKinney 's
now deleted Twitter page where she went by @Crunk_Bear. Here are some of the
supportive tweets since the news broke that McKinney 's
behavior was going to be investigated by the school district.