No way around it, they were compelling, even breathtaking images.

Men and boys laughing and cheering in the streets of Baghdad, celebrating the literal fall of Saddam Hussein as they tore his statue off its pedestal. More confetti-strewn jubilees in the northern city of Erbil, and yet again in Dearborn, Mich., where Iraqi-Americans marched, waved the flags of both nations and wept in joy.

But there were other visuals, too: injured Iraqis being rushed to hospitals, pockets of resistance in which bearded men shook guns, cautious Pentagon briefings warning that it's not over.

It's a lot for an adult to take in, but for young people it's -- what? A teaching moment? Something that should be carefully filtered through educational TV channels in sanitized 10-minute reports? Not classroom appropriate?

All answers are correct, depending on which educator is speaking and who -- and how old -- the pupils are. Still, it seems apparent that if ever there was a current event worthy of discussion, Wednesday's news is it.

Here's how one teacher plans to approach what he calls "history in the making."

"One of our core goals is to produce a responsible citizenry, so that when they graduate, they will take a side on issues and vote," says Will Ellery, 32, who co-teaches Lawrence North High School's American history/American literature class, an advanced daily course taken by 90 juniors.

Well before 9/11, Ellery and fellow teacher Bret Crousore, 30, invited local veterans to address students who were plugging through lessons about World War I, World War II and the Korean conflict. Assistant principal Karen Seybert recalls the effect of the first talk by a World War II veteran.

"It was an eye-opening experience for the kids," she says. "They felt they needed to show support for what this generation had done."

Ellery says the kids, on their own, organized what has become an annual Veterans' Day celebration. No doubt that helped set the stage for eventual discussions on Iraq. A pivotal moment was when students expressed frustration in January with an antiwar rally Downtown. They felt the rally did not show respect to those getting ready to go overseas.

"We challenged them, 'Look, if this is what you really believe, and you are sitting here not doing anything about it, then get busy,' " Ellery said.

The result was a "support the troops" rally at Lawrence organized by the class and attended by 1,100 students. Among the speakers were radio talk show host Greg Garrison and a student who told the audience, "Even if you do not support this war, support our troops, because they provide the blanket of freedom under which you sleep.' "

Ellery says he has not heard from any faculty dissenters, but he knows not all students were comfortable with that message. One student (not in his class) came to school a few days later wearing a T-shirt that said "Bush is an International Terrorist."

Five of the history/lit students approached that student in the cafeteria, says Ellery. "I was pleased they took the high road. They just sat and talked and asked him to explain what he meant."

As for Wednesday's news, Ellery says he and Crousore have already discussed it as a "teaching moment" -- an extraordinary one to share with students. "We compare it to the fall of the Iron Curtain."