RCDS is affiliated with the Rockland County Forensics League, which includes twelve Westchester and Rockland high schools. Each fall we meet at Suffern High School for the public speaking event, poetry and prose readings, dramatic monologues and impromptu speaking. Each spring there are two preliminary debates and a final match based on that year’s topic.

The 2009 topic was health care reform, and the student teams  were required to prepare competitive arguments for both change and status quo. Those who compete learn a great deal about their subject by understanding of the merits of opposing points of view, so their education is extensive. They receive help from student researchers, they practice teamwork, and they gain a valuable experience in the power and limits of persuasion.