I don't remember from the original post how old the students are, nor the economic strata the community or town is in. Also, what is the goal of the class? A class to foster photography as a creative outlet for kids will have different needs compared to one geared to photojournalism, or classic portraiture.
I got started in photography when my next door neighbor showed his son and me how to develop and print B&W negs. Once learned, I was hooked. However, I think the reality is that most of those kids will never own a serious film camera. So my vote goes to emphasizing the digital darkroom. If they have the money to also set up a wet darkroom, so much the better, but not at the expense of the digital one. If they are looking to build a photography curriculum then classes in B&W and classic portraiture would be helped by a wet darkroom. I do agree that unless the class is strictly a "let's develop your eye" class, they need to have a camera that can be run in a mode other then program. Fully manual would be best, although you can accomplish the same thing with a camera that allows AV and/or TV modes. My experience as a photofinisher makes me believe that the majority of people taking pictures have absolutely no clue what is going on and are lost if they don't have a program mode. To learn photography you need to have a basic understanding of what the various functions do in regards to the final image and how changing those functions will change the image. This, IMHO, requires an adjustable camera. So my suggestion for setting it up. A decent film scanner, 6(+) color printer, SLR's shooting slide film, Adobe Photoshop. I'm suggesting slide film because it will show good or bad exposure better and it makes it easier to decide which ones to scan and print. If there is an E-6 lab in town, see if they will give a student discount for class members. Butch Each man had only one genuine vocation - to find the way to himself. Hermann Hesse (Demian)
