About

The Lantern‘s purpose, founded in 2025, is to give students a space to share their voices beyond the classroom of evaluations and pressure. We do not care about “the most perfect grammar” or “the perfect idea” as long as we see effort and discovery. Just as a lantern lights the path ahead, our journal aims to illuminate the ideas and talents of all the student body. Below are the judges and their respective biographies for this year’s submission.

Ken Gu

Ken Gu founded The Lantern to create a space where students could share their diverse experiences and perspectives without the fear of getting a grade back. In high school, he was a Silver Medalist from the Harvard International Review for his paper on Microfinance and was a finalist in the John Locke Institute Essay Competition for his work on private property defence. Moreover, Ken is a two-time debate nationalist, competing on and off since 2023. More examples include: 2025 Western WSDC Champion Novice Team, 8th Speaker at McGill Winter Nationals and 1st U16 Speaker for all rounds spoken out of 90+ people at Indo-Pacific WSDC. He is current a grade 12 student at Selwyn House School in the Science stream.

Joseph Brydges

Joseph Brydges, Jacob’s debate partner, is one of the best debaters in Quebec. He began debating in Grade 8 and has since become a 7 time nationals qualifier, advancing in every provincial tournament he has attended. Moreover, he reached the Team Canada Tryouts in 2024 and has accumulated an impressive record of competitive success in BP, CP and WSD, including: 2025 Western WSDC Novice Champion, Junior Provincial BP Champion, 23rd out of 368 at Hart House High Schools, Queen’s B2S 2024 Quarter-Finalist, Counterfactual BP Grand Finalist, and Aristotle Cup 2023 Grand Finalist and Tied Top Speaker in 2025. He is current a grade 12 student at Selwyn House School in the Liberal Arts stream.

Jacob Bukhman

Jacob Bukhman, Joseph’s debate partner, is one of the best debaters from Quebec. He has twice reached Team Canada tryouts, earning the opportunity by speaking 2nd at the Canadian Parliamentary provincial tournament in consecutive years. A 7 time nationals qualifier, advancing from every provincial tournament he has attended since grade 8. Beyond that, some of his notable achievements include being a Grand Finalist at EDS Spring 2025, Tied Top Speaker at Aristotle Cup, Grand Finalist at McGill Winter Nationals, and the Junior Provincial BP Champion. Jacob is current a Grade 12 student at Selwyn House School, studying in the Commerce stream.

Platon Kotkovskyy

Platon Kotkovskyy is an active academic participant at Selwyn House School who began his journey in grade 9. Since then, he has earned numerous distinctions in the school, including the Grade 11 Contemporary World Award, Chemistry Award and Mathematics SN Award. In Grade 10 he held the third-highest average whilst receiving the Michael J. Alexander Wordsmith Award, the Math SN Award and the History Award, along with the Grade 9 Math SN Award. He is currently a grade 12 student at Selwyn House School in the science stream.