AURORA, Colo. -- A Young Marines drill team commander suspended from high school for having the team's mock rifles in the back of her car pleaded her case Thursday at a hearing that would determine whether she should be expelled.

Marie Morrow was suspended for 10 days from Cherokee Trail High School in Aurora after the wooden replica rifles were found in her sport utility vehicle in the school parking lot.

After the hearing, Morrow told 7NEWS, "I think it went over pretty well. I think they're going to consider the minimum sentence, take it as an honest mistake."

The hearing included character witnesses and accounts of what happened.

"My best-case scenario is that I'm back in school as soon as possible," Morrow said.

Morrow said the Young Marines program has "been a big part of my life. It pretty much shapes who I am and what I want to do in the future."

Morrow is a senior in advanced placement classes with a 3.5 grade point average. She's a member of the youth leadership and life skills program for students and plans to attend the U.S. Merchant Marines Academy when she graduates. The academy is one of five service academies. The Young Marines is a youth leadership program of the Marine Corps League, an organization for current and former Marines.

She felt the administrators at the hearing wanted to see her come back.

"One of the guys said, 'Keep working on your homework.' That's a good sign," Morrow said.

The state has a "zero-tolerance" law governing firearms on school property.

Cherry Creek School District spokeswoman Tustin Amole said state law gives administrators no choice but to expel Morrow for having weapons at the school -- whether they are fake or not. The question is the length of that explusion.

Morrow could learn Friday whether she'll be expelled.

State Sen. Kevin Lundberg, R-Berthoud, says he plans to introduce a bill in the Legislature next week that would exempt facsimile weapons from the zero-tolerance law.

"We are just trying to add a little bid of discretion to situations that are not a threat in any way," Lundberg said Thursday.