[Wlug] Another distro Question

I'm teaching a Beginners Linux course in a few weeks for Nitelife with the Worc Pub Schools. I was almost ready to go with Fedora, but I don't think that has what I'm looking for. I want something easy for people to pickup, and I don't think RPMs don't give you the linux feel. I'm going to start out w/Knoppix, but I also want to get into a disk install. I've only used Gentoo, RHAT, and Knoppix. A friend mentioned SuSe, but I've never used it. Very open to suggestions, I want as people to enjoy this class, not think that linux is out of their grasp. So, the question is what distro would people recommend for beginners aside from Knoppix? Eric